Chairman Robert L. Frantz opened the meeting at 10:05 a.m.

Attendance:

Others Present:

Chairman Robert Frantz opened the business portion of the meeting. Minutes of the April 12, 2000, meeting were distributed and a brief discussion was held. A motion was made by Tom Strong and seconded by Jerry Finfinger to approve the minutes as typed. The motion carried.

Old Business:

Accident Review and Recommendations and Accident Reduction Through Safe Job Procedures: Richard Stickler reviewed the statistics on the Lost Time Accident Frequency (LTAF) rate and accidents investigated by Deep Mine Safety to date for 2000. He complimented the bituminous division on their continuous improvement and noted the declining trend in LTAF rates for the division. Dilworth Mine shows the lowest LTAF of all longwall mines during the first two quarters. There were 22 mines out of a total of 43 that had ‘0’ lost time accidents.

The Bureau of Deep Mine Safety investigates all serious accidents and reports the causes and recommends preventative measures. The reports are distributed to the mining industry, inspection staff, and posted on DMS web page. The purpose of the investigation and reports is to communicate to miners the causes and prevention measures. The Bureau has investigated 101 accidents so far this year – 19 involving injury and 82 without injury. Of those accidents investigated, the majority without injury involved fall of roof (49), while the majority with injury involved machinery (8).

Mr. Stickler noted that human factor is the key cause of the majority of accidents investigated. Deep Mine Safety inspectors are working to communicate with miners at their work sites to increase safety awareness.

The Summer Alert, which was distributed to the mining industry to increase awareness of hazards associated with summer months, was discussed and it was suggested that a similar winter alert be developed and distributed.

Mr. Stickler provided an update and status report of 702 variance requests and diesel-powered equipment approvals.

Aging of the Workforce: Matthew Bertovich is working with Barb Fotta from NIOSH on a committee to research aging of the workforce. He and Bob Frantz will be conducting a presentation on the "Impact of Aging on Mine Safety" at the Fifth Health and Safety Seminar in Bedford on November 8.

Bob Frantz led a discussion on aging of the workforce. The committee agrees that this issue should be addressed. A motion was made by Jim Lamont and seconded by Jerry Finfinger to form a subcommittee to explore the issue of aging in the workforce. Jerry Finfinger is to check with Jeffrey Kohler (NIOSH) to see if he would agree to chair this subcommittee or delegate Jerry. In addition to NIOSH, subcommittee members will include, Matthew Bertovich, Tim Baker, Dave Rebuck, Bob Frantz, and a MSHA representative.

Schedule of 2001 Meetings: Meeting dates for 2001 were scheduled as follows:

All meetings will be held at the Fayette County Health Center in Uniontown and begin at 10 a.m.

Sewage Sludge (Class B Biosolids): Jim Lamont brought up a concern about the health hazards of sewage sludge at surface areas of underground mines and surface areas of strip mines. A motion was made by Jim Lamont and seconded by Bob Frantz to include Biosolids and associated health hazards as an agenda item for the next meeting. Bob Frantz requested UMWA to bring information on this subject to the next meeting.

The next meeting will be held at 10 a.m. at the Fayette County Health Center in Uniontown on January 10, 2001.

With no further business to discuss, a motion was made by Jerry Finfinger and seconded by Tom Strong to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 11:50 a.m.