Mine Disaster Raises New Questions About Safety Enforcement Procedures
Computer error is blamed for failure to warn the mine operator of safety violations.
April 13, 2010 at 08:00 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Law.com
The recent fatal explosion in a West Virginia coal mine has raised new questions about the effectiveness of workplace safety enforcement in coal mines.
On Tuesday, the AP reported that because of a computer error at the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the West Virginia coal mine where 29 workers died in an explosion last week never received a warning about safety violations and a demand that the operator improve conditions in 90 days.
According to the AP:
“The director of the Mine Safety and Health Administration said the error discovered Monday night did not have an impact on the accident at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine because improvements had been made even without the warning. But the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and two other lawmakers called for an immediate investigation by the Labor Department's inspector general into the computer error. Reps. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., and Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., joined Miller in calling the mistake “deeply disturbing.”
Read the complete AP story, “Officials: Computer error affected mine scrutiny.”
The recent fatal explosion in a West
On Tuesday, the AP reported that because of a computer error at the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the West
According to the AP:
“The director of the Mine Safety and Health Administration said the error discovered Monday night did not have an impact on the accident at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine because improvements had been made even without the warning. But the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and two other lawmakers called for an immediate investigation by the Labor Department's inspector general into the computer error. Reps. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., and Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., joined Miller in calling the mistake “deeply disturbing.”
Read the complete AP story, “Officials: Computer error affected mine scrutiny.”
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllGoogle Fails to Secure Long-Term Stay of Order Requiring It to Open App Store to Rivals
Rates Will Go Up (Again), But Here's Why Profitability Might Not Be Maximized
4 minute readFinancial Services Has a Trust Problem. Can GCs Help Right the Ship?
Trending Stories
- 1The Law Firm Disrupted: Playing the Talent Game to Win
- 2Preparing Your Law Firm for 2025: Smart Ways to Embrace AI & Other Technologies
- 3BD Settles Thousands of Bard Hernia Mesh Lawsuits
- 4GlaxoSmithKline Settles Most Zantac Lawsuits for $2.2B
- 5A&O Shearman Adopts 3-Level Lockstep Pay Model Amid Shift to All-Equity Partnership
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250