Testimony of
Bruce Watzman
Vice President of Safety and Health
National Mining Association
Before the Committee on Appropriations,
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services,
Education and Related Agencies
of the
Good morning. My name is Bruce Watzman. I’m the Vice President for Safety and Health
for the National Mining Association.
On behalf of NMA and its
member companies in coal and minerals production, I extend, once again, our
heartfelt sympathies to the families who lost loved ones at the Sago mine.
This tragedy leaves no one
involved with the industry untouched.
Anyone who has worked in a mine … or knows someone who does … feels deep
sorrow.
In addition, it compels all of
us in the mining community to work harder towards the one goal we all share --
zero fatalities.
We join with others here
today to ensure that out of this tragedy will emerge a stronger resolve and
greater cooperation in pursuit of safer mines. Our expectation is that from this and similar
hearings … and from the exhaustive official investigation now underway … we can
do better what we’ve tried hard to do well.
It is in this spirit that I
appear before this subcommittee today – to offer information on where we have
been and recommendations for what we can do to advance mine safety.
As this committee considers
the recommendations as a result of this hearing, I urge that we not create an unproductive
atmosphere in which parties feel the need to retreat to their respective
corners of the ring and defend themselves.
Rather, let us create an atmosphere where we come to the center of the
ring stand together and fight against a common enemy – workplace accidents.
INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE
The coal mining industry
takes seriously its commitment to protect its workforce. Since the first oil embargo in the early
1970s, the coal industry has been called upon to provide more coal to meet our
Nation’s energy requirements. We have
answered that call while providing a safer working environment for our
workforce. Since 1970, coal production
has increased by 83 percent and coal mine fatalities have decreased by 92
percent.
As we look at the first five
years of the 21st we see a continuation of
As we look at the first five
years of the 21st century we see a continuation of the trend that
began in the early 1970’s - safer coal mining.
This demonstrates that safety
and productivity are not competing goals, but rather complimentary goals. Working in what are inherently hostile
environments, today’s mining companies have proven that a well-trained,
experienced workforce, using state-of-the-art equipment, can accomplish the
dual goals of working safely and being productive. And yet these accomplishments are diminished
by what remains to be done and what NMA and its members are committed to
working towards. Following a tragedy
such as this, these statistics understandably pale before the names of those
lost.
MINE SAFETY AND TECHNOLOGY
The events at the Sago Mine
have strengthened our resolve to work harder and work smarter at mine
safety. This effort must begin with a
close and comprehensive examination of current safety and rescue procedures. Concurrent with a well-trained workforce and
state-of-the-art equipment, the coal industry has incorporated safety
management into its business and moral ethic. Safety management comprises four
functions: prevention, detection, first
response and sustained response. These
are not new to the coal industry; we’ve incorporated them for decades as sound
safety practice dictates.
Our ability to further advance
coal mine safety and health will require an examination of the structural and
technologic hurdles that must be overcome.
It will require a commitment to identify and foster the development of
21st century technology that will perform effectively and reliably
in the mining environment. Technologies
such as the introduction of remote control miners, integrated methane monitors
on mining equipment, atmospheric monitoring systems, longwall mining systems
and canopies on equipment are a few of the advances that have contributed to
the industry’s improved safety record.
Advances in technology have been integral to our safety improvements
thus far and will, we believe, contribute to further improve mine safety in the
future.
MINE SAFETY COMMISSION
FORMED
In pursuit of this goal and
to ensure a focused and transparent effort, this week the National Mining
Association is announcing the formation of a Mine Safety Technology and
Training Commission. The commission will
be drawn from safety experts in academia, labor, industry, and public and state
agencies for the purpose of examining safety technologies, emergency response
and rescues procedures and training regimes that could significantly enhance
safety and rescue conditions in our nation’s underground coal mines. The commission will be chaired by a recognized
expert in mine safety, Dr. R. Larry Grayson, chairman and professor of mining
and nuclear engineering at the University of Missouri-Rolla. Dr. Grayson will report the commission’s
preliminary findings to the public and mine safety authorities by July 1, with
a final report by the end of this year.
We anticipate the commission will examine, among other items, the
current and new promising technologies for mine communication, tracking miners’
locations, rescue technology and methods to more readily and reliably detect
potential safety hazards.
This subcommittee is very aware
of the need to maintain a vibrant mining research program within the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The tragic events at the Sago Mine underscore
this need. The federal government has an important role in technology
development – in order to bring safer, new devices to a relatively small market
for safety equipment. We urge your support to strengthen this vital government
function.
In addition to government
participation, our industry will continue to examine how new technology and
training can be adapted to further improve mine safety performance. We must continue to use the labor-
business-government model that has served us well in the past on coal mine
safety.
It is especially important for
us to continue to work together as partners because coal is an industry with a
changing face. Many of the people who
joined this industry in the 1970s, and who have built a career producing
In conclusion, if we work
together, as partners, and if we focus on improvement we will continue to advance
both the cause of mine safety and the cause of energy security.
Before closing, Mr. Chairman,
I would remiss if I did not recognize the efforts of those who participated in
the rescue activities at the Sago Mine.
The efforts of these brave and often unheralded rescue team members
cannot be minimized. We as an industry
are fortunate to have these brave individuals as a part of our mining family.
We thank them for their service.
We stand in the ring with you
ready to lead in this effort to advance coal mine safety.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman