Like many of you, this is a story I've heard before, but here's the kicker that made me share it: Black lung is about 3x more prevalent amongst coal miners today than 20 years ago. Witness the...
Like many of you, this is a story I've heard before, but here's the kicker that made me share it: Black lung is about 3x more prevalent amongst coal miners today than 20 years ago. Witness the figure. I thought we were making progress; what gives?
The resurgence of black lung appears to be from a mix of regulatory and legal changes, underfunded enforcement, lax safety standards, and cheating/fabrication by mine owners. It's sad.
I'll leave a couple quotes from the article:
“There’s no such thing as a good coal company; some are just worse than others,” according to King. “The law lets them take so many samples and then they can choose the best ones. … I remember working nonunion; when the federal government would come to run the surveys, the company would always send extra help on the bolt machines or on the scoops to get a cleaner reading than what normally they would."
MSHA has been heavily criticized for going easy on violators. Hamby found that, between 2000 and 2011, the agency received more than 53,000 samples from underground coal miners that showed overexposure to coal dust, but only about 2,400 citations were issued.
Let this be another reminder that progress is not permanent and that change contrary to human nature requires constant effort...
My parents once visited a tiny town in China, circa late 80s, where basically they have marble quarries and nothing else. The adults there look about 20 years older than they're supposed to be,...
My parents once visited a tiny town in China, circa late 80s, where basically they have marble quarries and nothing else. The adults there look about 20 years older than they're supposed to be, and everyone's got some kind of respiratory problem.
It made a big impression on me, from just seeing the pictures of the dust covered land and the people.
As an adult I visited a construction site and I saw most adults wearing P100 respirators, which is good even for "quick 5 minutes into the tunnel" jobs. [And I forget the names of those full entire face covering respirators for active construction tunnels]
But I still saw a few people who just plain don't care and walk in without any respirators.
Maybe like measles and rubella and other horrific diseases and conditions, kids just grew up without understanding how fragile our bodies are and how life saving rules, laws, regulations and unions are. We've been told all the time it's just red tape and it's making things more expensive and unions are just excuses to be lazy etc, without fair reporting like this that highlights why they are so critical.
I don't know about the environment on that construction site, but I know a friend who's a mechanic has said that people at his work make fun of people for wearing PPE. It's not "tough enough" to...
I don't know about the environment on that construction site, but I know a friend who's a mechanic has said that people at his work make fun of people for wearing PPE. It's not "tough enough" to wear gloves or a respirator. Not only do they not care, they actively boast about not protecting themselves.
I hear you. From the article, 1000+ deaths a year! A quick way to end these deaths is regulation and enforcement: if a mine gets shut down for a day of re-education every time they see someone...
I hear you. From the article, 1000+ deaths a year!
One fact that nearly everyone I spoke to for this piece emphasized — angrily, wearily, hopefully — is that black lung and all of its attendant horrors are completely preventable. With proper engineering controls, full compliance with safety regulations and up-to-date exposure standards, no one would have to live like this, or die like this.
A quick way to end these deaths is regulation and enforcement: if a mine gets shut down for a day of re-education every time they see someone walking around without adequate PPE, you bet your bottom dollar the owner would turn that culture around super fast. But as it is, it's just part of the greedy culture to glorify danger and recklessness as being "manly". Dying young isn't manly, raising your kids and walking your daughter down the aisle is manly.
...wanted to upgrade from the city job that had paid him $5.15 per hour for too many years. He began his career underground in 2005, making $18 per hour.
That's the other thing. When you have a "choice" betwen safer jobs that aren't living wage and "being a man" taking all the risks working for wild west robber bosses....that's not a choice.
Had no idea Silica dust was such a prevalent issue, it sounds brutal. I also had no idea that here in the United States in the year 2023, we don't protect miners from harmful elements that we were...
Had no idea Silica dust was such a prevalent issue, it sounds brutal.
I also had no idea that here in the United States in the year 2023, we don't protect miners from harmful elements that we were able to guard them against decades ago. It's like construction sites slowly rolling back hardhats to save on costs.
Or like legislatures across the country rolling back child labor laws. Or, hell, like Texas' State government rolling back local mandates of breaks for construction workers in extreme heat. I'm...
It's like construction sites slowly rolling back hardhats to save on costs.
Silicosis is no joke. You should always wear a mask when carving cement or rocks. A lot of DIYer's that dabble in countertops probably don't protect themselves as well as they should, and it will...
Silicosis is no joke. You should always wear a mask when carving cement or rocks. A lot of DIYer's that dabble in countertops probably don't protect themselves as well as they should, and it will catch up with them eventually.
It's very sad to hear that coal miners are allowed a worse standard than the construction industry. There really is no such thing as a good coal company.
Like many of you, this is a story I've heard before, but here's the kicker that made me share it: Black lung is about 3x more prevalent amongst coal miners today than 20 years ago. Witness the figure. I thought we were making progress; what gives?
The resurgence of black lung appears to be from a mix of regulatory and legal changes, underfunded enforcement, lax safety standards, and cheating/fabrication by mine owners. It's sad.
I'll leave a couple quotes from the article:
Let this be another reminder that progress is not permanent and that change contrary to human nature requires constant effort...
My parents once visited a tiny town in China, circa late 80s, where basically they have marble quarries and nothing else. The adults there look about 20 years older than they're supposed to be, and everyone's got some kind of respiratory problem.
It made a big impression on me, from just seeing the pictures of the dust covered land and the people.
As an adult I visited a construction site and I saw most adults wearing P100 respirators, which is good even for "quick 5 minutes into the tunnel" jobs. [And I forget the names of those full entire face covering respirators for active construction tunnels]
But I still saw a few people who just plain don't care and walk in without any respirators.
Maybe like measles and rubella and other horrific diseases and conditions, kids just grew up without understanding how fragile our bodies are and how life saving rules, laws, regulations and unions are. We've been told all the time it's just red tape and it's making things more expensive and unions are just excuses to be lazy etc, without fair reporting like this that highlights why they are so critical.
I don't know about the environment on that construction site, but I know a friend who's a mechanic has said that people at his work make fun of people for wearing PPE. It's not "tough enough" to wear gloves or a respirator. Not only do they not care, they actively boast about not protecting themselves.
I hear you. From the article, 1000+ deaths a year!
A quick way to end these deaths is regulation and enforcement: if a mine gets shut down for a day of re-education every time they see someone walking around without adequate PPE, you bet your bottom dollar the owner would turn that culture around super fast. But as it is, it's just part of the greedy culture to glorify danger and recklessness as being "manly". Dying young isn't manly, raising your kids and walking your daughter down the aisle is manly.
That's the other thing. When you have a "choice" betwen safer jobs that aren't living wage and "being a man" taking all the risks working for wild west robber bosses....that's not a choice.
Had no idea Silica dust was such a prevalent issue, it sounds brutal.
I also had no idea that here in the United States in the year 2023, we don't protect miners from harmful elements that we were able to guard them against decades ago. It's like construction sites slowly rolling back hardhats to save on costs.
Or like legislatures across the country rolling back child labor laws. Or, hell, like Texas' State government rolling back local mandates of breaks for construction workers in extreme heat.
I'm sure if we look hard enough we can find some way to blame this on trans people.
Silicosis is no joke. You should always wear a mask when carving cement or rocks. A lot of DIYer's that dabble in countertops probably don't protect themselves as well as they should, and it will catch up with them eventually.
It's very sad to hear that coal miners are allowed a worse standard than the construction industry. There really is no such thing as a good coal company.