Last week, we were treated — along with the media at the National Press Club — to Massey CEO Don Blankenship’s comments that mining accidents sometimes just happen and are unavoidable.
And this week, we’ve seen several coal companies complain in their quarterly financial statements about increased safety inspections and enforcement following the deaths of 29 workers at Massey’s Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster.
Patriot Coal reported earlier in the week that it’s experiencing increased costs related to safety issues, and International Coal Group said today that production is down because of “intensified” inspections and enforcement by MSHA.
But at least one coal company offered a little different spin on all of this … CONSOL Energy officials seemed to almost welcome the increased focus on safety. CEO Brett Harvey said, as he’s said before, that his company’s goal is zero injuries, illnesses and deaths:
We are committed to zero. Our people are committed to zero. Zero is a real number and we intend to drive the company toward that goal.
Nicholas J. DeIuliis, CONSOL’s chief operating officer, said that CONSOL spends about $200 million a year on safety efforts and compliance, but that all of those efforts also make the company more productive.
CONSOL, company officials said, views safety and production as going “hand in hand” and doesn’t expect increased scrutiny from MSHA — or a new safety law — to appreciably increase its costs.
Tragically, just an hour or so after CONSOL officials made their comments, a miner was killed at their company’s Loveridge Mine in Marion County, W.Va.
This death makes the question all the more important … compare the statements of Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, who says that sometimes mining deaths just happen, to those of CONSOL’s Brett Harvey, who says:
We don’t believe we’re perfect, but we believe we can achieve a perfect place when it comes to the safety of individuals.
Will the entire coal industry adopt Harvey’s goal?
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