Upper Big Branch fireboss describes uncorrected safety hazards at trial

Charleston Daily-Mail

Upper Big Branch fireboss describes uncorrected safety hazards at trial

by Ken Ward Jr., Staff Writer


A former Massey Energy safety examiner testified Wednesday about the hazards he routinely found in Massey’s Upper Big Branch Mine and described for jurors his “fireboss book” that showed many of those hazards were not quickly remedied.

Scott Halstead, whose 35-year mining career included nearly a decade at Upper Big Branch, took the stand as the government continued to present jurors with former Massey miners and other employees whose testimony has painted the Raleigh County operation as the epitome of the production-over-safety organization prosecutors say former Massey CEO Don Blankenship ran.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Ruby had Halstead explain to jurors how company mine examiners — known as firebosses — perform government-mandated safety checks before miners go to work and, in some cases, during their work shift.

Halstead read aloud from his fireboss record book, where he had repeatedly noted “needs dusted” after he examined Upper Big Branch’s long series of coal conveyor belts and found that more crushed limestone, or “rockdust” should be applied to reduce the potential for a coal dust explosion. Then, Ruby showed jurors the pages listing the hazards Halstead discovered next to the page where any corrective actions taken were to be noted.

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