Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/594078
AGGREGATES MANAGER November 2015 3 by Therese Dunphy, Editor-in-Chief tdunphy@randallreilly.com GAINS GROUND T he Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced that it has awarded $8,441,000 in grant funding to 47 states and the Navajo Nation to reduce mining accidents, injuries, and illnesses by supporting safety and health training courses and other programs. The programs are estimated to reach 80,000 miners. "Training of our nation's miners is critical to miners' safety and health, and thousands of miners receive training through these grants," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, in a press release announcing the grants. Overall, the announcement is good news. After all, during recent years, the continued existence of the state grant program has been in question, with repeated attempts by the Obama Administration to cut funding. This year, the program funding increased by $92,577, and a new recipient, the North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education, was added. Again, good news. Training and education are a vital part of reversing the recent increase in fatalities being logged in the metal/non-metal mining sector, as Jim Sharpe reports in his special coverage on this topic (see MSHA Reaches Out to Improve Safety, page 26). I'm happy to see MSHA recognize this need and increase its outreach efforts to operators, particularly small operators who lack the dedicated resources of their larger counterparts in the industry. What is disappointing, however, is the fact that the value of grants to seven states that experienced fatalities this year — California, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia — decreased by $205,807. To be fair, funding did increase, by $9,531.98, to three other states that recorded 2015 fatalities: Massachusetts, Nebraska, and New Hampshire. And, the $90,524.91 going to North Dakota represents an increase in state grant funds to a state with a 2015 fatality. What's most disturbing is that the amount awarded in 2015 is the same amount of state grant funds awarded in 2011, when the number of metal/ non-metal fatalities was at a historic low. While MSHA's outreach efforts to the industry are laudable, it shouldn't overlook the value of increasing its investment in the state grants program. After all, every miner should go home safely at the end of his or her shift, and MSHA and operators should be doing everything possible to ensure that is the case. November 2015 Vol. 20, No. 11 aggman.com /AggregatesManager @AggMan_editor Editorial Editor-in-Chief: Therese Dunphy Editorial Director: Marcia Gruver Doyle Online Editor: Wayne Grayson Online Managing Editor: Bobby Atkinson editorial@aggman.com Design & Production Art Director: Sandy Turner, Jr. Production Designer: Timothy Smith Advertising Production Manager: Linda Hapner production@aggman.com Construction Media VP of Sales, Construction Media: Joe Donald sales@randallreillyconstruction.com 3200 Rice Mine Rd NE Tuscaloosa, AL 35406 800-633-5953 randallreilly.com Corporate Chairman: Mike Reilly President and CEO: Brent Reilly Chief Operations Officer: Shane Elmore Chief Financial Officer: Russell McEwen Senior Vice President, Sales: Scott Miller Senior Vice President, Editorial and Research: Linda Longton Vice President of Events: Stacy McCants Vice President, Audience Development: Prescott Shibles Vice President, Digital Services: Nick Reid Vice President, Marketing: Julie Arsenault For change of address and other subscription inquiries, please contact: aggregatesmanager@halldata.com. Aggregates Manager TM magazine (ISSN 1552-3071) is published monthly by Randall-Reilly, LLC copyright 2015. Executive and Administrative offices, 3200 Rice Mine Rd. N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. Subscription rates: $24 annually, Non-domestic $125 annually. Single copies: $7. We assume no responsibility for the validity of claims of manufacturers in any advertisement or editorial product information or literature offered by them. Publisher reserves the right to refuse non-qualified subscriptions. Periodical circulation postage paid at Tuscaloosa, Alabama and additional entries. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 507.1.5.2); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Aggregates Manager, 3200 Rice Mine Road N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. State Grants Program