By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – America’s coal industry is celebrating a second straight record low for fatalities: eleven in 2015, compared to fifteen in 2014.
The president of the Illinois Coal Association, Phil Gonet, credits a new industry standard called CORESafety.
“It has the ultimate goal of zero fatalities and a fifty percent reduction in the rate of injuries within five years,” says Gonet, who adds this is the third year of the program. “The CORESafety initiative is bringing safety into the culture of the management of a coal mine. It’s built on a Plan / Do / Check / Act model.”
Of the eleven fatalities, one was in Illinois just a few weeks ago – Tyler Rath, 20, of Marion. He died in an accident when he drove into a wall while operating equipment in the M Class Mine near Macedonia. Another Illinois fatality was that of Glen Campbell, 59, of Sparta, who died in a Peabody facility in Coulterville. He was also operating a piece of equipment. Neither Rath nor Campbell were mining, per se.
On another subject, Gonet is looking forward to a change in the White House, adding the Obama administration’s “war on coal” is real, not just a Republican talking point. But he can name only four candidates – all Republican – who could be considered a friend of coal. They are U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
