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State updates coal mining safety provisions

3 min read

Six years in the making, it’s welcome news that Pennsylvania’s House and Senate have finally passed an updated coal mine safety bill introduced by state Sen. Richard A. Kasunic, D-Dunbar. The legislation updates the state’s nearly 50-year-old bill. Six years in the making, it’s welcome news that Pennsylvania’s House and Senate have finally passed an updated coal mine safety bill introduced by state Sen. Richard A. Kasunic, D-Dunbar. The legislation updates the state’s nearly 50-year-old bill.

One need only think about how much technology has changed in the past half-century to understand why this law needed refreshing. Spurred by the 2002 accident at Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, the Kasunic legislation essentially brings the commonwealth’s coal mine safety standards into the modern era.

“This bill will help the industry keep pace with the latest technology and safety practices,” said Kasunic.

It will also ensure that 5,000 coal miners who labor underground every day have greater protections. For example, state inspectors for the first time have the power to impose fines for safety infractions on mine owners, not just supervisors. It should have been that way all along.

The bill also creates a seven-member safety board charged with keeping the law in step with the latest advances in mine safety technology and practices. Who wouldn’t want such flexibility to take advantage of a good thing that might come along?

Also, a representative of the miners will now be able to accompany a state inspector on mine inspections. There are better fire-related safeguards and ventilating practices. Miners will have a better opportunity to escape or transport an injured miner during an emergency. Detailed examinations of equipment will be required at the start of each shift, and throughout that shift.

Emergency shelters will be mandated. More reliable mine mapping systems will be put in place. And there will be tougher penalties against mining companies that fail to comply with the new state law.

The 250-page Kasunic bill was supported by both sides after a compromise was reached by coal companies and the United Mine Workers of America. Gov. Ed Rendell got involved in negotiations near the end of the process, and Kasunic says the governor has assured him he’ll sign the bill into law soon.

House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, whose chamber unanimously approved the bill, said, “It was humbling working toward the common goal of securing safer conditions for the people who risk their lives underground so that we all may have light above it.”

Put another way, coal miners perform dirty, dangerous work, day in and day out. There is little room for error when you’re working hundreds of feet below ground. That’s why updating the safety provisions was so important.

(This editorial was originally published in the July 8 edition of the Herald-S

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