About 25 years in mining, strip and deep. We had a man killed in rockfall in ‘57 in my grandfather’s mine. Worst accident my father and I had was a broke leg in the late ‘70’s. Quit in ‘85 drugs were not a problem, hangovers were.
Drugs were an off and on problem. Mostly weed in AZ, meth in Oregon. Nevada was just alcohol. The line supervisors were responsible for smelling breaths and seeing how the eyes focused as they loaded the cage.
I only ever caught one guy underground and he was so drunk he couldn’t stand up. He said the company was at fault because he was on his last notice for absenteeism. The Steelworkers took his case to arbitration and lost. Their claim was the absentee programs caused unsafe conditions. The program was negotiated so the arbitrator wasn’t buying it. Testifying in the arbitration was my introduction to labor relations where I spent my last twenty working years.
The meth use at the nickel smelter in Oregon cost me a lot of sleep both in worry and being called out on dark hour shifts.