Black Lung Screening Lacks Funds, Workers

The West Virginia-based black lung mobile screening unit operated by NIOSH’s Respiratory Health Division is still not fully functional, despite a federal court order to resume the program.
Local media said the agency’s mobile X-ray unit is parked behind an office building in Morgantown because there are no funds to operate it and there are no contract workers to read chest X-rays.
Once NIOSH has determined a miner has black lung through a series of X-rays, they can qualify for a job transfer under what’s called the Part 90 Program.
Part 90 enables miners to work in a less dusty environment and allows them to continue working while protecting their health.
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A New York City-area training firm linked to the 2022 death of a construction worker has pleaded guilty to running a fake safety school that issued fraudulent certificates to thousands of workers across the area.
Valor Security and its president, 42-year-old Alexander Shaporov, pleaded guilty to one count of Attempted Enterprise Corruption, 10 counts of Offering a False Instrument, and one count of Reckless Endangerment.
Between 2019 and 2023, Valor and Shaporov issued safety cards to approximately 20,000 students, often through cash arrangements with brokers who charged between $300 and $600 per card.
Prosecutors say the process sometimes took less than an hour and skipped legally mandated instruction entirely.
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Fabcon Precast will pay a $500,000 fine, the statutory maximum, after pleading guilty to willfully violating an OSHA safety standard.
A batch operator at Fabcon’s Grove City, Ohio plant was injured in June 2020 after a broken valve prevented at pneumatic discharge door from operating
In addition to the fine, Fabcon will serve two years of organizational probation and comply with a Safety Compliance Plan.
The criminal charge is related to an incident where an employee was killed when a pneumatic door closed on his head.
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