Mining/Oil/Gas

Port Fourchon, LA — The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s rollback of certain provisions of a rule intended to prevent a repeat of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig disaster will maintain safety and environmental protections, the agency claims, as advocacy groups announce their intention to fight the move.

Arlington, VA — The Mine Safety and Health Administration is accepting applications for its Brookwood-Sago Mine Safety Grants Program.

Arlington, VA — The Mine Safety and Health Administration is extending to Sept. 25, 2020, the deadline for a Request for Information on ways to monitor and regulate miner exposure to diesel exhaust in underground mines.

Triangle, VA — United Mine Workers of America President Cecil E. Roberts recently called proposed legislation that would reduce the scope of mine safety inspections in West Virginia and amend the state’s underground ventilation laws “one of the most outrageous attempts to slash critical protections for miners’ safety and health on the job that I have ever seen.”

Washington — NIOSH will offer a series of free, confidential health screenings for coal miners through its Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program.

Washington — NIOSH has unveiled a beta version of an interactive, PC-based simulation software tool aimed at improving hazard recognition in mines.

Cambridge, MA — Injured workers who are older, employed by organizations with smaller payrolls and in counties where more people have health insurance are more likely to receive opioid prescriptions, according to a recent study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute.

Arlington, VA — The Mine Safety and Health Administration is seeking public comment on existing coal mine rescue training guides IG7 and IG7A, the agency announced Dec. 21.

Arlington, VA — Twenty-seven miners died on the job in 2018, one fewer than in 2017 and the second lowest total recorded by the Mine Safety and Health Administration since it began publishing such data more than a century ago, the agency announced Jan. 9.

Washington — A total of 5,147 workers died as a result of on-the-job injuries in 2017 – a 0.8 percent decrease from 2016 – according to data released Dec. 18 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.