"Dirty MSHA District Doings!"

 

 

After being denied a formal closing conference by the inspector, a Mid-west Operator called the district manager and was told, "MSHA has been doing it this way since 1977 and we will continue handing you your citations as we go out the gate"!

That's not what Sec. 103(f) of the ACT says!

 

 

When personally conferencing guarding citations with a field office "clr" and telling the hearing officer that nobody could "accidentally get behind the guards and become caught", a NW Safety officer was told by the "clr", "that the word 'accidentally' was dropped from the Policy Manual two"regional managers" ago."

The Safety Officer showed him the enforcement policy in Vol.IV of the most recent Policy Manual.

 

Vol. IV MSHA Policy Manual, pg. 51

"This standard is to be cited when a guard at conveyor locations does not extend a distance sufficient to prevent any parts of a person from accidentally getting behind the guard and becoming caught, or in those instances when there is no guard at the conveyor-drive, conveyor-head, conveyor-tail, or conveyor take-up pulleys."

 

The "clr" was informed of the Firm's Formal Contestment Policy.

"I did not realize that 'regional supervisory inspectors' had the authority to over-ride nationally-published Federal enforcement policy!",  $afepro

 

 

        At an Industry/MSHA meeting a District Manager stated that Firms would consider a 17-25 inspection a good one because he (the DM) was telling his inspectors that 40-65 citation inspections would be considered the norm. This attitude is nation-wide in the M/N Districts!

Aren't you glad you have Alliances! - $afepro

Here is # 4