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BUSINESS
Federal agency proposes drug tests for miners
FRANKFORT. Ky. -- Hourly workers in one of the nation's most hazardous occupations, underground mining, would face mandatory drug testing under a proposal that's been in the works for more than two years.
The move by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration is in reaction to concerns initially raised by coal operators in Appalachia, a region that has struggled with what officials describe as an epidemic of prescription drug abuse.
"Mining under the best of circumstances can be dangerous, and the use of alcohol and illegal substances creates additional, unnecessary hazards," federal mine safety chief Richard E. Stickler said in a written statement. "If one miner is abusing substances, everyone's safety is put at risk."
Lawmakers in Kentucky instituted a similar requirement two years ago in response to deadly accidents at mines where investigators found drugs.
One miner was killed and another critically injured at an underground operation in 2003 in Floyd County where a witness reported seeing miners snorting crushed painkillers. And the widow of a miner killed in an accident at a separate location in Harlan County in 2005 said in a lawsuit filed last year that drug abuse was so rampant that the miners referred to the company's bathhouse as "the crack house."
While other parts of the country wrestle with methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin, the Appalachian region has been a hotbed for abuse of prescription pills, like the painkiller OxyContin, that are either crushed and snorted or mixed with liquid and injected intravenously.
A review by the federal mine safety agency turned up "a number of instances" in which drugs or alcohol were found at mines or were detected in blood tests after mining accidents.
The federal agency's new proposal, which is open for public comment until Oct. 8, would prohibit the possession and use of drugs and alcohol at coal, copper, gold or any other type of mine. It calls for testing of all job applicants and for random testing of existing miners.
Coal companies that don't already have drug-testing programs would have one year to comply with the regulation. The federal agency estimates the initiative would cost the mining industry about $16 million the first year and $13 million a year thereafter.
National Mining Association spokesman Luke Popovich said mandatory drug testing will be an important step to making coal operations safer.
"It should be obvious that we don't want employees whose judgment might be impaired to be operating machinery or working with colleagues in mines where vigilance is important," Popovich said. "Whatever the cost is, it would pale compared to the advances of ensuring a safer workplace."
The federal agency began an appraisal two years ago to determine the need for mandatory drug testing. Public meetings were held in a number of coal-producing states where some coal operators and miners said drug abuse had become rampant.
United Mine Workers of America spokesman Phil Smith said the proposal raises concerns for the union, though, he added, "none of our members want to be working at a mine with someone who is impaired."
Smith said the proposal would create an unnecessary "extra layer of regulation" because, he said, most major mining companies already have drug-testing programs.
Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Caylor said drug testing is "a major step forward" for mine safety.
"I'm convinced that people on drugs cause a significant number of injuries and fatalities, and we need to get these people out of the mines," Caylor said.
