Pit & Quarry, May 2018

ON THE FRONT LINES WITH MSHA A number of topics were covered during the 2018 Pit Quarry Roundtable Conference including developments with the Mine Safety Health Administration MSHA An edited transcript from one of those Roundtable discussions begins on this page while the edited transcript from another begins on page 54 P Q What changes or developments if any have you seen on the front lines of your operations with MSHA officials over the last year What are your expectations for MSHA under new assistant secretary David Zatezalo Do you anticipate significant changes in course by the agency in its enforcement and rulemaking efforts If so what are some of the changes you hope to see ROSS DUFF DUFF QUARRY We are a mom and pop small miner What were seeing on the front lines is a glut of coal inspectors Coal production is down and MSHA is overstaffed At least thats the interpretation weve received By volume of inspection its nearly doubled just on the field inspections As far as relevancy its a concern to me with MSHA If they have the extra staff and the budget will be spent better and proactively they can provide educational materials and teach our miners some of the safe processes and work proactively I think its fantastic that new MSHA assistant secretary David Zatezalo has had boots on the ground and has worked his way up in the industry versus someone who has had their entire career in government I would love to see educational materials The MSHA website is painfully outdated When Im Duff bringing in my new staff my next generation of miners we have to have relevant training materials Id love to see MSHA put their funds and resources into YouTube online resources and proactive training I think you would continue to see the deaths and incidents and accidents reduced through education SCOTT ALEXANDER ACG MATERIALS I certainly agree I think its been that way forever Hopefully with some new leadership there MSHA senior adviser Ed El liott is someone Alexander Ive worked with for a number of years Hes great He knows our industry as well as anybody Hopefully hell have some influence Im still amazed We opened up a new operation last month next to a producer thats been there for two years operating on a daily basis They never applied for permits MSHA doesnt even know he exists They dont come and inspect him They come to SAFETY P Q ROUNDTABLE Producers manufacturers and others share their firsthand experiences with the agency and their expectations for the road ahead on mine safety DISCUSSION CONTRIBUTORS Below is a list of Pit Quarry Roundtable Conference participants whose comments appear within this section Scott Alexander ACG Materials Ross Duff Duff Quarry Pat Jacomet Ohio Aggregates Industrial Minerals Association OAIMA Dan Johnson formerly of Anderson Columbia Alexander Kanaris Van der Graaf Margo Lopez Ogletree Deakins Chalin Luizino REMco Paul McLaren Kleemann Will Pierce Schurco Slurry Pat Short Cornejo Sons Hal Williford Memphis Stone Gravel Co 46 PIT QUARRY May 2018 pitandquarry com