Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, urged lawmakers to loosen a mine safety law
“to aid and assist the small coal mines without putting people at risk.” (LRC Public Information)
The GOP-controlled Kentucky Senate voted along party lines Wednesday to give final passage to a bill weakening a safety protection for coal miners put in place after the death of a Harlan County miner.
House Bill 196, sponsored by Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville, would reduce the required number of trained and certified coal miners able to respond to medical emergencies, known as mine emergency technicians (METs), depending on how many miners were working a shift.
Under Blanton’s bill, a shift with 10 or fewer miners would be required to have only one MET, down from the current requirement of two. METs are trained to provide emergency medical care and stabilize a miner’s condition. The free training required to receive a state certification to become a MET takes at least 40 hours and includes learning about cardiac emergencies, muscular and skeletal injuries and bleeding and shock.
Blanton and other Republican proponents of the legislation say small coal-mining operators are being burdened by the requirement to have two METs on site for every shift, in some cases temporarily shutting down when only one MET is available.
A father died mining coal. His son warns KY bill would endanger other miners.
“This really gives our small operators some room to breathe in this depressed environment,” said Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, mentioning the coal industry’s downturn in Eastern Kentucky. “It’s just about keeping these people who want jobs working.”
Opponents of the legislation have warned that ending the protection afforded by requiring two METs — essentially having a backup if the other MET is unable to provide aid — would endanger miner safety.
Tony Oppegard, an attorney and former mine safety inspector who helped write a 2007 mine safety law that required two METs, has said the requirement was spurred by the 2005 death of a Harlan County miner, David “Bud” Morris. The then 29-year-old didn’t receive proper first aid to stop bleeding after a loaded coal hauler nearly amputated both of his legs. The lone MET on site failed to give Morris necessary medical care.
The Senate gave HB 196 final passage by a 30-7 vote after two Republicans had voted against the bill in committee and expressed concerns about how the bill could impact miner safety. Senate Majority Floor Leader Max Wise had suggested in the committee the bill could be changed. The widow of David, Stella Morris, testified against the bill in that committee. Morris’ son, who was a baby when Morris died, has also spoken out against the legislation.
One of the two Republicans who voted against the bill in committee, Sen. Scott Maden, R-Pineville, voted for the bill on the floor. The minority of Democrats opposed the legislation.
Sen. David Yates, D-Louisville, who voted against the bill in the legislative committee, said he thought the bill was going to be improved after hearing some Republican concerns about it.
“Are we doing something that benefits the industry, the corporation literally at the expense, health and wellness of the individual — or we back the coal miners, the individuals, to make sure that they are safe?” Yates said.
Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, called the death of Morris a “horrific accident” and said it would have been “extremely hard, whether one person was there or three or four people were there” to save Morris considering the seriousness of his injuries.
“This is cost prohibitive in some small operations, but there are still medically trained personnel on site, and this bill should pass to aid and assist the small coal mines without putting people at risk,” Stivers said.
Stella Morris, Bud Morris’ widow, dismissed any suggestion that her late husband’s death wasn’t preventable, pointing to a federal report after his death that quoted a paramedic as saying there would have been “a very different outcome” if Bud had received basic first aid.
She said she supports the coal mining industry in her Eastern Kentucky community but ultimately does not want another family to go through the loss of a loved one like her family did.
“I don’t feel like they care about the miners,” Morris told the Lantern. “I feel like all they cared about today when they voted was the coal industry, but without the miners, you don’t have a coal industry.”
Oppegard, the mine safety inspector who helped create the requirement for two METs, opposed HB 196 from its introduction. He said Republican lawmakers by lowering the requirement will risk the death of a coal miner while saving “one of their coal operator buddies,” according to his estimate, roughly $40 to $50 a week to pay a second MET on site.
“Let’s be clear: Republican legislators don’t care about the safety and health of miners,” Oppegard said. “Only the most callous people on the face of the earth think that way.
We hope that Gov. Beshear vetoes this wrong-headed legislation. If the General Assembly overrides his veto, then they will have blood on their hands if the legislation ends up costing a miner his life.”
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear will now consider whether to sign the bill into law, let the bill become law without his signature or veto the legislation. The GOP supermajority in each legislative chamber can easily override any veto from Beshear.