Blankenship, quit your fucking lies!

[Frank]

"We're the leaders in safety innovation and continue to be more creative in the area of safety than any other company, in our opinion."

You lie. Even in your opinion, you cannot believe that.

The safety record in Massey mines is far worse than the industry average. The number of citations by the MSHA in Massey mines is far worse than the industry average. The amount of fines, desist orders, and serious violations levied against Massey mines is far worse than the industry average.

When discussing the safety and environmental records of coal companies, there is only one context in which Massey's name comes up: They're the worst.

They're the worst in accidents, in lost-time injuries, in safety violations, in environmental violations.

Massey is an example to all coal mining companies. An example of what not to do.

[Oakminster]

"We're the leaders in safety innovation and continue to be more creative in the area of safety than any other company, in our opinion."

Perhaps they are the leaders in discovering creative ways to avoid strict compliance with safety regulations, in their opinion.

[Euphonious Polemic]

I'm the most amazing, handsome and all around most wonderful guy in the world in my opinion.

[Frank]

Originally Posted by Oakminster

"We're the leaders in safety innovation and continue to be more creative in the area of safety than any other company, in our opinion."

Perhaps they are the leaders in discovering creative ways to avoid strict compliance with safety regulations, in their opinion.

Possibly, probably, so. But as their safety results are so dismal, measured by lost-time injuries and fatalities (even before the current disaster) how can they honestly believe that they lead in safety innovation? The innovations are failures, they are not safe, they know that, they lie.

[Euphonious Polemic]

They're only lying in your opinion.

See! If you just don't let pesky facts get in your way, an opinion can go any way you want!

ETA: This way,they can get equal time for their opinion,the same way the nut-cases can get equal time for other nonsensical points of view. The goal? Confuse the public, and make sure that they are not censured.

[Kimstu]

Right. At this point, they're gearing up for (more) massive fines and lawsuits, and stonewalling, contradiction and denial is SOP.

[Bryan Ekers]

Right you are, Kim!

[Oakminster]

Yup. Kimstu nailed it. The company wants to be very careful to not say anything that may bite them in the ass later.

[Ludovic]

Originally Posted by Frank

"We're the leaders in safety innovation and continue to be more creative in the area of safety than any other company, in our opinion."

In any other industry, those that claim to be "creative in the area of safety" would receive a collective from the workers, the press and America in general. It's sad that in mining, it really would be an step up to be "creative in the area of safety": although I don't really believe that what they say is true.

[DanBlather]

Originally Posted by Frank

"We're the leaders in safety innovation and continue to be more creative in the area of safety than any other company, in our opinion."

You lie. Even in your opinion, you cannot believe that.

The safety record in Massey mines is far worse than the industry average. The number of citations by the MSHA in Massey mines is far worse than the industry average. The amount of fines, desist orders, and serious violations levied against Massey mines is far worse than the industry average.

When discussing the safety and environmental records of coal companies, there is only one context in which Massey's name comes up: They're the worst.

They're the worst in accidents, in lost-time injuries, in safety violations, in environmental violations.

Massey is an example to all coal mining companies. An example of what not to do.

I'm afraid that the fad for reality-based statements has passed.

[elucidator]

Would it surprise anyone to learn how proud he is of being non-union?

[Nametag]

Oh, but they are the leaders in safety innovation -- in much the same way as a canary in one of their mines.

[Kimstu]

Originally Posted by elucidator

Would it surprise anyone to learn how proud he is of being non-union?

Why wouldn't he be proud of it? He worked so hard for it:

When Blankenship first took control of the mine, he spent more than a year trying to woo the miners to abandon their allegiance to the labor union that had represented them.

"Don made it his own personal campaign. He began flying in every week in his helicopter. He gave pep talks. He took a whole bunch of them on trips to Dollywood, where they went to concerts. He went with them and bonded with them. New cars started turning up in their driveways," [Coal River author Michael] Shnayerson said.

But as soon as the union was gone, Shnayerson said Blankenship shifted gears. Work hours increased from eight hours to 12 hours. Bonuses were cut. If they got injured, their jobs were at risk.

And according to federal mining data, citations and safety violations started to rise.

[Jackmannii]

They're very creative.

At widow creation.

[MaxTheVool]

He apparently thinks they've been doing a heckuva job.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by Jackmannii

They're very creative.

At widow creation.

Not too bad at orphanogenesis technologies, either.

[Morgyn]

The four missing miners have been found. Their bodies were missed in the original search because of smoke.

[Frank]

Originally Posted by Ludovic

It's sad that in mining, it really would be an step up to be "creative in the area of safety": ...

But there is really nothing creative necessary for mining safety; there are proven and well-known standards to follow. The single most important safety factor is a corporate culture that acknowledges safety is first. Don't take short-cuts, don't rush, pay attention to detail, etc. It's pretty obvious from the industry statistics which mining companies have that culture and which don't.

[Zany Zeolite Zipper]

Originally Posted by Frank

But there is really nothing creative necessary for mining safety; there are proven and well-known standards to follow. The single most important safety factor is a corporate culture that acknowledges safety is first. Don't take short-cuts, don't rush, pay attention to detail, etc. It's pretty obvious from the industry statistics which mining companies have that culture and which don't.

Not quite the same thing, but for my company it is safer working in the mine or the mill than it is to work at home office - home office has more lost time accidents than either the mine or the mill.

[gonzomax]

Originally Posted by Zany Zeolite Zipper

Not quite the same thing, but for my company it is safer working in the mine or the mill than it is to work at home office - home office has more lost time accidents than either the mine or the mill.

A lot of office worker die in accidents then? Pretty dangerous. Black lung pales in comparison to paper cuts.

[Chimera]

Sure, we dig coal out of the ground. But you know what else is found underground? Dead bodies. Sure, you could say that they were our workers. We say that our FORMER workers have simply moved on to other jobs and what you've found are just standard issue corpses that you could find lying around anywhere.