The
meeting was opened by Program Development and Technical Services Division
Chief, Matthew A. Bertovich, at 10 a.m.
All Pennsylvania Bituminous Mine Safety Advisory Committee groups were
represented.
Attendance
Members Present:
Richard
E. Stickler, DEP, Bureau of Deep Mine Safety
Robert Frantz, The Pennsylvania
State University
Thomas Strong, R & P Coal Company
Gerry Finfinger, NIOSH Pittsburgh
Research Center
(designated representative for John Murphy)
James P. Lamont, United Mine Workers
of America
Others Present:
Matt Hindman, RoxCoal, Inc.
Jack Holt, Consol, Inc.
Wayne Duerr, NIOSH
John Kovac, NIOSH
Bob Stein, NIOSH
Tim Rehak, NIOSH
Jerry Taylor, Maple Creek Mining,
Inc.
Jeff Kravitz, MSHA
Alan Polka, TJS Mining, Inc.
Nina Huizinga, DEP, Policy and Communications
Matthew A. Bertovich, DEP, Deep
Mine Safety
Joseph A. Sbaffoni, DEP, Deep Mine
Safety
Allison Trader, DEP, Deep Mine
Safety
Mr. Bertovich introduced Richard E. Sticker, the new director of the Bureau
of Deep Mine Safety. Mr. Stickler
gave a brief history of himself. He
has held the position of Bureau Director since March 10. Mr. Stickler encouraged good communication and participation between
the Advisory Committee and the Bureau of Deep Mine Safety. He indicated that communication was the first
and most important step in solving problems. Mr. Stickler opened the business portion of the meeting.
Minutes of the December 11 meeting were distributed and reviewed. A motion was made by Tom Strong, and seconded
by Bob Frantz, to approve the minutes as typed. Gerry Finfinger requested that the minutes
reflect the organizational change from U. S. Bureau of Mines to NIOSH. The motion carried with the changes noted by
Mr. Finfinger.
Procedures for Advisory Committee:
Matthew Bertovich gave a review of the Department’s guidelines for advisory
committees. The Pennsylvania Bituminous
Mine Safety Advisory Committee has been operated according to these procedures.Nina
Huizinga informed the committee that listing new business as an agenda item
gives an opportunity for members to raise issues that have not been listed
on the agenda. Mr. Bertovich explained that the intent of having the agenda
prior to the meeting is to give people insight into what will be discussed
at the meeting.
A discussion took place on the organizational structure of the committee. A concern had been brought up by Deputy Secretary
Robert Dolence at the November 2, 1995, meeting about Deep Mine Safety running
an advisory group that gives advice to itself. Robert Frantz commented that the present format
has worked well and that the committee had voted previously to continue this
format. Richard Stickler advised the committee that he had reviewed the previous
minutes and understood the committee’s comments.He stated, however, that he
will be resigning as chairman of the committee.
Draft by-laws will be developed by the by-laws subcommittee. They will incorporate the change of having
Deep Mine Safety act in a supporting role for the committee and not a voting
role. A motion was made by Tom Strong,
and seconded by Bob Frantz for the by-laws subcommittee to draft by‑laws
that will reflect these changes. The
motion carried.
Old Business:
Mine Rescue Subcommittee: Wayne Duerr had obtained information from the
state of West Virginia. He informed
the committee that West Virginia does have a law concerning mine rescue which
covers their workman’s compensation. Mr.
Duerr commented on the difficulty he had in getting states to respond to his
inquiries. Matthew Bertovich advised the committee of
a national effort that is underway by the Mine Safety and Health Administration
(MSHA) to address mine emergency preparedness issues. In 1995 MSHA had a conference where the mining community was invited
to identify issues related to mine emergency preparedness. These issues were summarized in a 1996 report,
and a work group was formed in January 1997 by Assistant Secretary for Labor
Davitt McAteer. Mr. Bertovich is a
member of this work group.
The work groups are addressing many of the same issues that were identified
by the Pennsylvania Bituminous Mine Safety Advisory Committee. They are meeting today (April 9) in Beckley
to compile some preliminary information on the issues of the Good Samaritan
legislation, workers compensation, and mutual aid agreements. Mr. Bertovich will copy the entire committee
on the materials that are produced by the national work group once he receives
them.
Richard Stickler suggested coming up with a good definition of the scope of
the problem, having it documented, and then distributed.
The committee agreed that the idea of a mutual aid agreement could be helpful. The mine rescue subcommittee will be working
on coming up with a draft mutual aid agreement. Once finalized, it would be made available to everyone throughout
the industry as a planning tool.
Update on Act 182: Matthew
Bertovich updated the committee on the progress of Act 182 of 1996 which became
effective on February 17. No diesel-powered
equipment packages have been received at this time.
A two-day diesel workshop for trainers is in the planning stage.
The workshop will be open to the industry and UMWA.
New Business: