He spoke before a large group Wednesday night, the first of several industry speakers during the three-day event, and focused on coal’s vital role in the future of the US and the world as well as the forward progression of safety.
“When it comes to improving safety, the most critical ingredient is the truth,” said Blankenship as he discussed some of the practices Massey has spearheaded at its mines.
“If our objective is zero lost-time accidents, ‘the truth and nothing but the truth’ can be associated with any safety effort.”
He went on to outline some of those safety pioneering efforts, including reflective material, automated temporary roof support deflector pads on roof bolters, mantrip covers, use of staircases over ladders and remote continuous miner starts after a unit loses power in an unsupported roof scenario. In many cases, the use of these items has not become state or federal law though Massey has been using them all for some time.
“It’s the application of the simplest of technologies, not always the development of new technologies, that makes us safer,” he said.
The most recent – and perhaps highest profile – effort Massey has led, a proximity protection device that automatically shuts a remote CM off when a worker gets too close, is an idea Blankenship said is a decade old.
“[It’s] an idea that we first had 10 years ago. If perfected, it should not take a decade for it to become law while we’re being inundated with more and more bureaucracy.”
Blankenship went on to argue that safety progress methods as a whole need to be changed.
“The truth is that our government approach to safety, and therefore the industry approach, is outdated,” he said.
He added that the focus of government officials must move away from the punishing and “harsh, threatening tactics” used during 110(c) investigations at operations, which he said “serve no worthwhile purpose”
Before efforts can truly progress, overall implementation across the entire industry must be done – things that he said most mines already are doing.
“[That’s] the first step … the acceptance of things that are truly better will truly improve safety.”
To reach everyone’s goal of zero fatalities, Blankenship said, there are “obstacles – or better yet, excuses” that must be overcome, and quickly.
“We’ll push back on political correctness and instead demand that the truth, and not politics, be the foundation of our industry’s safety effort,” Blankenship said.
“After all, to do otherwise is to be less safe and to be irresponsible. We owe it to coal miners and their families to demand that safety laws and safety resources be applied based on the truth, not politics – to do otherwise is to risk coal miners and their health.”
The Bluefield Coal Symposium, an extension of the biennial Bluefield Coal Rally, is sponsored by the Bluefield Chamber of Commerce. Check back with International Longwall News for further coverage of the event.
