OCR Text |
Show Wednesday, December 12, 2007 Vernal Express SAND AND GRAVEL OPERATIONS New MSHA requirements impact Basin businesses B6 New businesses are popping up everywhere in the Uintah Basin to meet the needs of the oil and gas industry and those involved in a new, rapidly growing grow-ing service industry need to be aware that they fall under federal rules and will be expected to come into compliance with them. There are now 26 sand, gravel and surface mining operations in Uintah and Duchesne coun ties and at least half of them are new. These locally-owned enterprises - created to meet the fast-paced construction needs for foundations, concrete and temporary roads in the oil patch - are required to meet regulations established by the federal Mining Safety and Health Administration. "A lot of them don't realize what Give a Bundle, Save a Bundle With Bresnan! Tis the season for giving! And when you donate a gift to help the community, you'll receive a free installation on Bresnan services! Happy holidays! Your donation of a $15 toy will be given to "Santa's Community Effort" and in return, you will receive a free installupgrade to any Bresnan Service - to include Bresnan highspeed Internet and Bresnan cable tv sprvirp. tT P B f l Call Today 1.877.BRESNAN www.bresnan.comordernow part of MSHA they fall under, what rules and regulations they have to know," said Gavin Perry, an instructor with Uintah Basin Applied Technology who teaches MSHA new miner and MSHA refresher courses in Vernal. "Title 30, of the Code of Federal Regulations contains all MSHA laws." Sand and gravel operators not only face the inherent dangers involved with blasting rock and working with heavy equipment, but also the potential health concerns such as lung damage caused by exposure to the fine dust created when crushing sand and gravel. "Almost every stone contains silica - when you are crushing this it creates micron-sized silica dust. This very fine dust can go into the lungs, causing silicosis," said Perry. When MSHA made its presence felt in the mining industry the number of work-related deaths fell. At the same time, there were no such regulations for the growing grow-ing sand and gravel industries. "The mining industry is the safest industry in terms of the exposure to blasting, confined spaces, poison gas and heavy equipment," said Perry. "That is due to adherence of MSHA regulations by the miners. The sand and gravel industries increasing in-creasing accident rate is one of the reasons Congress put them under MSHA." MSHA has been around since 1977 but it wasn't until 2000 that Congress placed sand and gravel , operations under the agency's umbrella. The industries had previously been under the auspices aus-pices of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. r Don't think you have time for exercise? Life too busy? Holidays have you running in circles? A Woman's PACE has the solution! A Woman's PACE now has a private, keyless entry into the fitness club. Our members now enjoy the flexibility to exercise according to their schedule - not according to the hours of the club! This means extended hours and days for fitting your exercise routine into your schedule - when you want to, including all day Saturday and Sunday! As a member, you will be able to exercise when it's convenient for you and your schedule! Original, PACE adjustable hydraulic cardie- zrzrr -ai HAUt adjustable hydraulic cardio r , '" : Fl and strength training machines! A j j 7 HOLIDAY DISCOUNTS! Get started on your exercise program today -when it fits your schedule! A WOMAN'S PACE! Still the original and still the best! Security Video Surveillance Provided by CVEE Services, Inc. f i r ITT H L. .---J, j . 1 - - m JI.1...L "I K""" 'f ' " laiiaimn Trow Londtltontng Ctrcutf 1147 W Hwy 40 107 Vernal (Kmart Plaza) 789-5482 7 "' Start a new hristmas tradition. . . r Enroll in a class or start a program at ubatc ; "M - , , , ,., r ' " 1 Illln Ijly'rj. "t'ty - , tjv s u s 1100 East Lagoon St. Roosevelt, Utah 84066 435-722-6900 559 North 1700 West Vernal, Utah 84078 435-725-7100 www.ubatc.edu Applied Technology College a UCAT campus . . . your technical college cS' fit 4 . "There is a night and day difference dif-ference between MSHA and OSHA," according to Perry. "MSHA comes onto a surface site a minimum of two times a year to inspect. MSHA is very proactive. If you are trying to comply they are willing to help you come into compliance. The inspectors are all prior miners; they understand the job and the aspects of the environment." However, businesses who fail to follow MSHA rules face serious consequences if an accident occurs oc-curs on their site, said Perry. For example, MSHA requires everybody who works on site at a sand or gravel operation to be certified through the agency's-required agency's-required courses. This includes the secretarial and janitorial staff, if they work on site, noted Perry. "If administrative offices are on the mine site, they all must be MSHA certified. It sounds really complicated and hard, but once you get someone to explain what you need to do to be in compliance a lot of it is just common sense," said Perry. Not only do owners and employees employ-ees need to be aware of the MSHA rules and complete required training, in certain cases those who aren't employed by the company but who come to their job site more than five days ayear - including delivery people - must be also MSHA certified. "It doesn't matter if it is an electrical contractor, a paving or plumbing contractor, - they have to be certified," Perry explained. "UPS delivery people have to have a limited site-specific training, train-ing, called 'contractor specific training' and are only allowed to pick up or drop off items in a certain place." He said there is an exception for some delivery workers including vending machine suppliers. Perry is a 13-year veteran of the Navy, serving three tours in the Gulf. During some of that time he was on emergency response, rescue and firefighting teams. He formerly worked as the information in-formation technology and communication com-munication technician at Simplot Phosphates. Perry teaches MSHA, OSHA and safety classes at UBATC in Vernal. The MSHA 24-hour new miner course is required for all new sand, gravel and surface mining employees. These classes are available every three months or upon request. The MSHA 8-hour refresher classes are required annually for all sand, gravel and surface and underground mine employees. The refresher courses are taught every three months, as well as on request. "We are trying to do them once a quarter, but if a company calls and needs a class we will set it up for the time they need it," said Perry. "We also have an underground new miner course that is 40 hours - 32 hours are in the classroom, and eight hours specific in the underground area they are assigned." m , ti -f " L t ' ' ? 4 -s i v. Gavin Perry works for Uintah Basin Applied Technology Col-. lege teaching classes in mine safety to help area businesses come into compliance with federal requirements. Perry formerly worked for Simplot Phosphates. n Vernal Wow! Let me tell you, it is worth shopping in the pages of the... 54 North Vernal Avenue Vernal, Utah 435-789-351 1 www.vernal.com- ... Meet the 'White Hats' Representatives Representa-tives from education field services of federal Mining Safety and Health Administration Admin-istration will be at the Vernal Ver-nal campus of the Uintah Basin Applied Technology College on Jan. 10, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The field service is a separate branch of MSHA that works to educate edu-cate businesses on how to be compliant with the agency's rules. "Their nickname nick-name is 'the White Hats,' because they are here to help," said Gavin Perry, a UBATC instructor who teaches MSHA certification certifica-tion classes. "They will come out and answer questions; they tell you what your business needs to do to come up to speed." MSHA also has two other arms - enforcement enforce-ment and administrative. The enforcement arm issues citations and conducts con-ducts inspections. The administrative ad-ministrative branch takes care of the paperwork. . "The education field services people are separate branch from the enforcement officers, they don't interact with the investigators," said Perry. Gold Cross Ambulance will be conducting an EMT-Basic course. This course will run on Fridays, Saturdays and every other Thursday. Times will be from 5:30 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, and from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Course will begin on Friday, January 4, 2008 at the Gold Cross Ambulance Vernal Station located at: 220 West 1 00 South Vernal, Utah. Cost will be $600.00, this will include Utah State testing fees as well as textbooks. For more information, please contact Wes Richens at (435) 789-6907 or Nathan Pennington at (801) 699-8556. |