Massey Energy Honored with Safety Award

By: Laura Strickler
Topics: News

Massey Energy Company has been honored with a mine safety award.

The mining company which is under a federal criminal investigation for the explosion in the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia that killed 29 miners touted the new safety award on their website.

The award is from The Joseph A. Holmes Safety Association "a non-profit organization founded in 1918, annually recognizes outstanding safety performance in the mining industry."

The association's award highlights the company's safety records at nine of its operations.

Officers for the safety association are listed on the organization's website and include two employees of the Department of Labor's Mine Safety Health Administration which is also investigating Massey. The phone number listed for the association rings to an MSHA office in Virginia and the association appears to be affiliated with MSHA.

The explosion on April 5, 2010 was the largest mine disaster in 40 years. According to MSHA records, the Upper Big Branch mine was cited 50 times in 2009 for "unwarrantable" failures.

Massey says the awards were presented at the "Joseph A. Holmes Safety Association's annual meeting in Roanoke, West Virginia on May 21-22."

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by fmediaman September 28, 2010 11:57 PM EDT: Massey has to be one of the worst companies of the decade. No way they should be getting this award. The Flame Index has had them in the top 10 for almost 6 months! (http://flameindex.com); Reply to this comment


by gaelobrien May 31, 2010 1:35 PM EDT: MSHA is really under a cloud in the mine safety business given the FBI probe at Massey and just how closely the agency has worked over the years with the industry. I appreciated the story and linked to it in my weekly ethics column-- this is the second piece I've written about Don Blankenship and Massey at http://******/dtnupu; Reply to this comment


by UKWill May 28, 2010 5:25 PM EDT: The Tea Party types must love this. I guess they're all sending congratulations notes to Massey. What with their hysteria about "big government," they wouldn't want anything pesky like mine safety laws.; Reply to this comment


by FauxNews May 28, 2010 3:52 PM EDT: I'm guessing that is some sort of Special Olympics Safety Award.; Reply to this comment


by rightbehind May 28, 2010 2:56 PM EDT: Like spreading icing on dung; Reply to this comment

by larrryshrine May 28, 2010 2:55 PM EDT

It is said that bad PR is better than no PR . . . in this case, I don't think the saying is correct. This is a stupendous PR blunder, and demeaning to the families of the men who died.

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by rightbehind May 28, 2010 3:00 PM EDT: Summed it up well.


by koko98-2009 May 28, 2010 2:51 PM EDT: Did they run out of human beings to honor?; Reply to this comment

by borgward17 May 28, 2010 2:08 PM EDT

And the award for Lack of Skill in Public Relations goes to -- Massey Energy!

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by rightbehind May 28, 2010 2:57 PM EDT: LOL!


by josephp5 May 28, 2010 2:05 PM EDT: The ludicrousness of awarding Massey with a safety award weeks after one of the worst mining disasters in US history simply illustrates an obvious fact:

Just like oil drilling companies were allowed to take over the Minerals Management Service, the coal companies have taken over the Mine Safety and Health Administration. These agencies now are more closely affiliated with the companies that they are supposed to be regulating than with the mine and oil rig workers that they should be protecting.

This "Joseph A. Holmes Safety Association" appears to be nothing but an industry sponsored front group to give a veneer of legitimacy to the claim that large mining operations like Massey actually care about safety issues.

This award means about as much as the framed "Salesman of the Year" award behind the car salesman trying to get you to buy the True-coat sealant.; Reply to this comment

by generey May 28, 2010 1:56 PM EDT

This is so indicative of coporate america's propaganda "safety" programs I am totally speechless. I have worked for several companies of which each had "award winning safety programs". Thing is, the safety "rules" only applied when someone from the "safety dept." was around and looking. When they leave the area it is back to just get it done - whatever it takes. This award is disgusting. They just suffered death's; how could they receive an "award"?

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by rightbehind May 28, 2010 3:56 PM EDT: The corporate propaganda machine like you said. Corporate responses always tend to be it never happened, if it did sweep away the evidence, intimidate all witnesses, or drag it out in the legal system.