Pit & Quarry, January 2018

PITANDQUARRY COM An Inside Look ggregate industry stakeholders were optimistic last year about the possibility of Ed Elliott the former safety and health director at Rogers Group being nominated for assistant secretary of labor at the Mine Safety Health Administration MSHA A The nomination ultimately went to David Zatezalo a former coal executive whom the Senate later confirmed as the head of MSHA The coal lobby reportedly poured tens of millions of dollars into President Donald Trumps campaign so it shouldnt come as a surprise that a coal man now heads MSHA Despite missing out on the top post the aggregate industry secured a victory when Elliott was named a senior advisor at the agency Elliotts hiring is vital because the majority of mines and miners in the United States fall within the agencys metal nonmetal sector Aggregate operations of course make up part of metal nonmetal A quick analysis of the number of metal nonmetal mines in operation across the nation and a quantified comparison of our sector to coal offers staggering takeaways Ninety percent of the mines MSHA oversees are in metal nonmetal and 74 percent of all miners work in a metal nonmetal mine The disparity between the two sectors has grown over the years with MSHA overseeing about half the number of coal mines today than it did 20 years ago Likewise MSHA oversees significantly fewer coal miners today than it did just six years ago Back in 2012 MSHA oversaw about 143000 coal miners As of 2016 MSHA was overseeing about 85000 Kevin Yanik EDITOR IN CHIEF In all fairness the number of metal nonmetal mines MSHA oversaw in 2016 was at a low not seen in nearly two decades The number of miners working in metal nonmetal in 2016 was also down slightly from prior years But the overall numbers are still overwhelmingly in metal nonmetals favor so the selection of Elliott as a senior advisor is prudent on the agencys part A little about Elliott For those who arent familiar with Elliott he has a stellar reputation as a mine safety advocate who devoted more than 30 years of his career to the aggregate industry Elliott helped lead a charge for the MSHA Part 46 safety training requirement and he at one point testified before Congress on safety innovation Elliotts peers consider him to be a highly credible man with the characteristics of a leader one who as a producer worked successfully with MSHA Expect to see Elliott on the front lines of our industry throughout 2018 as hes tasked with engaging operational leaders and developing strategies to enhance mine safety and health Knowing Elliott spent so many years in aggregate sites and that hes working alongside MSHAs head producers should be somewhat optimistic about the prospect of practical change coming to the agency P Q North Coast Media LLC 1360 E Ninth St Suite 1070 Cleveland OH 44114 Phone 216 706 3700 Fax 216 706 3711 EDITOR IN CHIEF Kevin Yanik 216 706 3724 kyanik@ northcoastmedia net EDITOR Darren Constantino 330 533 6804 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