http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0406/disaster-site-cited-57-safety-violations-march/An explosion ripped through a coal mine in West Virginia, killing 25 workers and leaving four unaccounted for in one of the worst US mining disasters in recent years, officials said.
And the disaster site was cited for "57 infractions just last month for violations that included repeatedly failing to develop and follow a ventilation plan," ABC News reports.
"A federal audit released just days before a massive explosion killed 25 coal miners in West Virginia found that the country's top mine safety agency was not adequately retraining its veteran inspectors, even as hundreds of new inspectors were being hired," FOX News reports.
The audit, released on March 30, found that 56 percent of veteran Mine Safety and Health Administration inspectors had not completed required retraining between 2006 and 2007. A few hadn't attended any training sessions since the policy was enacted a decade earlier, and even entry-level hires "lacked supporting documentation" to show they went through the required 21-23 weeks of instruction.
The report found there were "no consequences" for not attending retraining, and said that training gap "increases the possibility that hazardous conditions may not be identified and corrected during inspections which, in turn, could increase the risk of accidents, injuries, fatalities."
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/west-va-coal-company-deadly-explosion-fined-millions/story?id=10293691