West Va. Oxygen Devices Fail Test—Made by Same Company as Those at Sago

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2006/09/05/west-va-oxygen-devices-fail-test%e2%80%94made-by-same-company-as-those-at-sago/

In the States

Sep 5

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West Va. Oxygen Devices Fail Test—Made by Same Company as Those at Sago

All the emergency oxygen devices recently tested by the West Virginia Office of Miner’s Health, Safety and Training failed to perform, the agency announced last week. The air packs were made by the same company that manufactured oxygen devices that reportedly failed in the Sago Mine disaster, where 12 miners died in January.

The devices, known as self-contained self-rescuers (SCSRs), are designed to provide up to 30 minutes of oxygen to help miners escape from areas filled with smoke or toxic gases. The West Virginia safety office tested nine of 17 randomly selected devices state mine inspectors carry with them.

The oxygen packs (model CSE SR 100) were manufactured by CSE Corp., based in Monroeville, Pa., and purchased by the safety agency in 1998. While CSE made the devices used at Sago, it has not been reported if they were the pre-1998 SR 100s.

The tested devices were carried by the inspectors and stored in their cars when not in use. The oxygen packs did not include heat-damage indictors that CSE began installing on self-rescuers after 1998 that are designed to show deterioration due to extreme temperature exposure.

The West Virginia safety agency said it will replace all the SR 100s that lack the heat-damage indicators and require mine operators to replace the pre-1998 oxygen packs.

The lone survivor of the Sago disaster, Randall McCloy, said four of the self-rescuers failed to work. Last month, McCloy and relatives of two of the Sago victims filed suits against the mine’s owners—International Coal Group—and several suppliers of mining equipment, including CSE.

The suits allege some of the CSE oxygen devices failed and that ICG “negligently failed to put in place any standardized operating and safety policies and procedures” and “failed to monitor” the safety practices and compliance with federal mine safety laws by Wolf Run Mining, which was operating the Sago Mine.

Also last month, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by the Mine Workers that sought to force the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration to test self-rescuers in coal mines.

by Mike Hall