Mining/Oil/Gas

Arlington, VA – The Mine Safety and Health Administration is ramping up enforcement after three miners died in separate incidents on the same day.

Arlington, VA – A new, free training module from the Mine Safety and Health Administration aims to aid employer compliance with incident and injury reporting requirements.

Arlington, VA – Eighteen miners died during the first half of 2015, down from 22 deaths during the first six months of 2014, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Washington – A stalemate between the two current members of the Chemical Safety Board means the agency’s final investigation report on the 2009 Caribbean Petroleum refinery explosion remains in limbo.

Charleston, WV – West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D) has formed a commission to provide recommendations on improving workplace safety in the oil and natural gas industries.

Washington – OSHA has adopted a chemical concentration test similar to that of the Environmental Protection Agency to determine whether a chemical is at or above the threshold quantity listed under the Process Safety Management Standard.

Washington – The Chemical Facility Safety and Security Working Group on June 9 published an update on actions taken to comply with a 2013 Executive Order on improving chemical facility safety and security.

Charleston, WV – The West Virginia Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety recently updated its standards for moving mining equipment in underground coal mines.

Washington – The fatality rate for oil and gas workers decreased 36.3 percent despite an industry boom from 2003 to 2013, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Washington – NIOSH will offer free, confidential health screenings to coal miners in an effort to detect black lung, a group of deadly diseases caused by breathing coal mine dust.