New MSHA director lays out mine safety priorities

Main was confirmed by the Senate last month. He is a native of Green County Pennsylvania only a few miles from Morgantown.

The 60-year-old began working in the coal mines when he was 18. He quickly rose through the ranks of the United Mine Workers of America and in 1976 he joined the union’s safety division.

During a conference call last week, Main gave a peek into his plans for the office but said he was a man who liked to “under promise and over deliver.”

"MSHA has been an agency that’s been in transistion for some time. There has been an absence of a confirmed head of the agency for nearly 5 years before I arrived here. It is my goal to provide some sound leadership and guidance to the agency," he said.

Main was critical of MSHA during the Clinton Administration for not requiring miners to wear personal monitors for coal dust.

Main says there is a device that miners can wear that has been built and tested. He said “its time (is) about to come” and we should look for it within the next few weeks.

"I’ve tested the device myself as many others have and it works and it’s a tool that we can now utilize to help fix this problem of unhealthy coal mine dust that have plagued miners." Main said.

Main has also criticized the Bush Administration for what he called weak enforcement efforts.

"I understand quality enforcement of the miner acts. I understand the importance of mandatory inspections at mines being the centerpiece of assuring that miners are safe. The inspections that are required by the MINER act, four underground and two surface each year, are something that I think have changed the dynamics of mine safety in this country," Main said.

Main says he’ll remember grief stricken families.

"Over time, I think our pain and or thinking about the events faded but it never does fo those families. And the victims who survive those kind of events are really scarred for life," he said.

Other issues he plans to address are violations with the leading causes of deaths in mines, the generation gap as many miners retire, and of course the ultimate goal; to reach zero fatalities in the mining industry.

This is the first time a person has been confirmed to the position since George Bush appointed Dave Lauriski in 2001. Lauriski resigned in 2004.

Ron Wooten, Director of the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training sees Main as a seasoned safety veteran who knows the business and knows the law.