[governsleastgovernsbest]

By the way, to Today's credit: in the second half hour Lauer interviewed NBC reporter Bob Hager, at the scene. They agreed that it was premature to start pointing fingers at the mine owners, and important to let the investigations play out.

[Quilla]

Thanks for the ping and the report.

I've read on a couple of threads this morning that the mine has been managed by the current owner since November. That doesn't seem to be a long enough period to rectify safety hazards and correct OSHA violations that were recently cited.

Incidentally, my manufacturing plant has been cited for not having a large enough exit sign over a full glass door. Some citations can be annoyingly frivolous.

[July 4th]

It seems to me that mining is an industry where safety violations are usually minor, widespread, and commonplace. In our law firm, we have a paper mill as a client, and they get 10 violations every time an inspector walks through the plant. But the 10 violations are extraordinarily minor, and the sum of the fine - if there is one at all - is rarely above $2,000. Rather, the safety inspections are just used as a way to check up on manufacturers, keep them on their toes, and make sure they're not doing any thing really stupid.