http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/16373-senate-confirms-david-zatezalo-as-msha-administrator
[Dear American Coal Miners - are you sure you want these jobs brought back?]
Senate confirms David Zatezalo as MSHA administrator
November 16, 2017
Washington – David Zatezalo is the new assistant secretary of labor for
the Mine Safety and Health Administration, after the Senate confirmed
him Nov. 15 in a 52-46 vote.
Zatezalo spent more than 40 years in the mining industry and most
recently was chairman of Lexington, KY-based Rhino Resources GP LLC,
retiring in 2014. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) pointed out that
experience when touting Zatezalo’s nomination.
“Mr. Zatezalo is uniquely qualified to lead the U.S. Department of
Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration because he knows the
industry inside and out,” Alexander said, citing Zatezalo’s time as a
miner, union member, general superintendent and general manager.
Rhino, however, experienced a number of safety issues during Zatezalo’s
tenure with the company. Rhino Eastern’s Eagle No. 1 Mine in the new
MSHA leader’s home state of West Virginia was given Potential Pattern of
Violations notices in 2010 and 2011. According to a MSHA letter to Eagle
No. 1’s safety director in August 2011, the second PPOV notice was
issued because the agency “determined that the mine is not making a good
faith effort to eliminate violations and has reverted back to PPOV status.”
According to goodjobsfirst.org’s violation tracker, Rhino mines have
been issued nearly $2.1 million in fines for 160 workplace safety or
health violations since the beginning of 2005.
“It is so critical, absolutely critical, that the MSHA administrator is
committed to standing up for our miners,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said
a day before Zatezalo’s confirmation. “But instead of nominating an
advocate for workers’ health and safety, President Trump nominated one
of the industry’s worst offenders.”
During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education,
Labor and Pensions Committee on Oct. 4, Zatezalo said, “I was not proud
of the fact that we got designated as a PPOV mine. I did not try to
lawyer up and stop anything from happening. I felt that if you haven’t
done your job, then we should be big kids and deal with it as such.
Incidentally, I replaced that management because I wasn’t too happy with
their performance.”
Zatezalo also said he wouldn’t have a problem working with, potentially,
some of the MSHA staff that handed out fines and citations to his
company. “They did what they were supposed to do,” he said.
Wayne Palmer had been the acting assistant secretary since Aug. 21.
Zatezalo takes over at a time when coal mining fatalities have reached
their highest mark (14) since 2014.
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http://ohiovalleyresource.org/2017/09/01/coal-fatalities-rise-miner-deaths-increase-amid-low-coal-employment/
[images and links in on-line article]
Coal Fatalities Rise: Miner Deaths Increase Amid Low Coal Employment
By Becca Schimmel
September 1, 2017
A rash of fatal coal mining accidents in the Ohio Valley region pushed
the nation’s total number of mining deaths to a level not seen since
2015, sparking concern among safety advocates.
Already this year 12 miners have died on the job in the U.S., compared
to eight fatalities in all of 2016. Two miners were killed in Kentucky
and six in West Virginia.
Mine safety experts say this spike in fatal accidents is troubling
because it comes at a time when far fewer miners are working compared to
recent years, and during a presidential administration pressing to
rapidly increase coal production and roll back regulations.
At a rally last month in Huntington, West Virginia, President Trump
returned to a favorite theme.
“I love our coal miners and they’re coming back strong,” Trump said.
Mining employment has increased slightly since Trump took office. But
veteran mine safety advocate Davitt McAteer said he worries that a coal
comeback brings risks for miners. McAteer led the U.S. Mine Safety and
Health Administration, or MSHA, during the Clinton administration, and
has conducted investigations of mining disasters since then.
“You don’t want to bring them back and send miners to their deaths
because you’re not paying attention to safety,” McAteer said. “I’m very
much in favor of bringing the miners back. It’s a question of, are they
brought back in a way that protects them?”
Last year was the safest in the country’s coal mining history, with
eight fatalities. The 12 fatalities so far this year match the total
from 2015, a year when there were nearly 25,000 more people employed by
coal companies, according to MSHA data.
That has mine safety experts like McAteer concerned. They point to a few
factors that could be contributing to a rise in mining deaths: an
increase in inexperienced miners, a possible turn away from strict
safety enforcement, and a leadership void in the nation’s top mine
safety agency.
Safety Vacancy
McAteer noted that for the first seven months of the Trump
administration there was no one in the position he once held at MSHA.
“For that position to go vacant says we’re not paying attention to this.
And in fact conditions like we’re seeing in West Virginia and across the
country, of increased fatalities, come about when we’re not paying
attention,” McAteer said.
President Trump appointed Congressional aide and White House advisor
Wayne Palmer acting secretary of MSHA on August 22, until a permanent
appointment is made. The United Mine Workers of America said in a
statement that Palmer has no experience in mining or health and safety.
On September 2, the White House announced the president’s intent to
appoint a former West Virginia coal company executive to the top MSHA
post. David Zatezalo was a top executive at Rhino Resources, which
operates mines in West Virginia and Kentucky.The company was the focus
of MSHA scrutiny following what regulators called a pattern of
violations and a miner’s death at one mine and allegations of
interference in mine inspections at another.
Although the agency lacks a leader, it has announced a new approach to
safety: what’s called a “compliance assistance” program. An agency data
analysis showed that inexperienced miners were more likely to be injured
or killed. Seven of the fatalities this year have involved miners who
had one year or less experience at the mine where they died.
In response, MSHA said in June it would “encourage mine operators to
participate and share information” about new miners on the job.
That raises a red flag for Kentucky lawyer and mine safety advocate Tony
Oppegard.
“Every time there is this de-emphasis on enforcement and an emphasis on
‘compliance assistance’ the fatality rate always goes up,” Oppegard said.
Compliance assistance
Oppegard said the main job for MSHA and its inspectors is to enforce the
laws and regulations at mines, and the majority of coal mining deaths
are caused by violations of safety regulations.
“You know, it’s hard to pinpoint anytime why there are fatalities, but
almost every coal mining fatality is preventable. There are very few
that you can truly call a fluke,” Oppegard said.
Oppegard said compliance assistance was the approach MSHA tried during
the George W. Bush administration, with mixed results. That eight-year
period saw some improvements in safety. But the era was also marked by
numerous mine disasters, including the Sago disaster in West Virginia
and the Darby explosion in Kentucky, which together took 17 lives.
The UMWA also expressed skepticism about the assistance approach.
“The UMWA is not and never has been in favor of so-called ‘compliance
assistance’ programs, and this one is no different,” UMWA President
Cecil Roberts wrote. Roberts said MSHA is giving mine operators leeway
to select who can participate in the program, something he warned will
undermine effectiveness of safety training. And he complained that the
MSHA change came without notice to the union.
“Despite our 127-year history of dealing with mine safety issues and
developing solutions to those issues, MSHA failed to reach out to us at
all with respect to developing this program.
An MSHA spokesperson declined an interview request for this story. There
are indications that the agency is continuing with some Obama-era
initiatives intended to increase enforcement and inspections.
For example, as of July, MSHA was still using a targeted enforcement
program established in 2010 in the wake of the mining disaster at the
Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia. Those “impact inspections” focus
on mines that merit increased agency attention and enforcement and
included inspections in Kentucky and West Virginia this year.
Celeste Monforton is a former MSHA official and occupational health
researcher at George Washington University and Texas State University.
She said the balance between strict enforcement and assistance by the
agency will vary with different administrations.
“You know one administration, a Democratic administration, is interested
in enforcement and wants to do enforcement. And a Republican
administration wants to do compliance assistance,” she said. “But in
reality my experience has been that administrations do both.”
Monforton said compliance assistance is an important part of what
regulators do. However, it should not take the place of the mine
inspections required by the law.
“What we want to avoid and what we need to pay attention to is if
compliance assistance is supplanting enforcement,” Monforton said.
Monforton added that while any death is one too many, the longer
statistical trend still shows improved safety over the years.
State Changes
McAteer said West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is uniquely positioned to
help. The Governor has been involved in the coal mining industry for
about 24 years.
“So he is in a specifically opportune position to be able to make that
turn-around, whereas others who might not have the background don’t have
that kind of industry contact and he’s in a position to make that
happen,” McAtteer said.
One of the mine fatalities this year happened in a coal mine owned by
Justice’s family. And MSHA has issued citations for safety violations.
The Governor did not respond to requests for comment.
Some changes at the state level have drawn criticism from safety
advocates. A new law this year disbanded a Kentucky mining board
responsible for reviewing training and safety regulations for coal miners.
Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet Communications Director John
Mura said the mining board was abolished in order to avoid duplication
of effort and to save money. He said its duties are still carried out by
another body.
Legislators in Kentucky and West Virginia considered, but later turned
down, bills that would have reduced the amount of state mine inspections.
Stand down for safety
McAteer said the current increase in fatalities is reason for the mining
industry to stop production temporarily in order to re-evaluate safety
procedures.
“By having a stand down, where you for hours or for a day stopped
production and you say, ‘Let’s take a look at this, because we don’t
want to lose any more miners,” McAteer said. “We know how to mine safely
and we need to be addressing if there are problems that crop up.”
McAteer said a renewed focus on safety is especially important if the
Trump administration aims to fulfill its pledge to ramp up coal production.
