Mountain State Matters

A week ago, I wrote a post about coal mining and drug use, specifically about a blog’s suggestion that testing coal miners for drugs would eliminate the rampant drug abuse that often exists in the mines. The blogger responded today:

I seriously doubt a coal miner will get fired for using painkillers in a legally prescribed manner. If you test positive for a prescription drug, your employer will not fire you if you have a legitimate prescription and follow the law regarding its use.

The whole point of testing is to remove people from the workplace who are a danger to themselves and co-workers. The bottle says “Do Not Operate Heavy Machinery” for a reason.

I think the blogger missed my point. My argument was NOT that coal miners (or anyone for that matter) should be operating heavy machinery under the influence of drugs or alcohol, nor that a miner would be fired for having a prescription drug (which was legally prescribed) in his system.

I simply don’t think drug testing miners is the complete solution. Drug testing WOULD remove those addicted to drugs from the mines, which would take away one safety hazard. However, I don’t think drug testing addresses the root of the problem.

To confirm, I called a friend of mine in Wyoming County, WV who wanted to be known as “Wild Bill the Coal Miner.” Bill confirmed that most of the miners he knows on painkillers became hooked because they were prescribed the pills after a mining-related accident. “Three to eight months down the road when it’s time to not take them anymore, your body is physically and mentally dependent on them,” he said.

Bill also said that there is no way a miner would work with someone they knew was under the influence of drugs while at work, partly due to the danger of the job. “You’re going to let someone know,” he said. “You aren’t going to let a man work next to you who’s messed up. It’s bad for everyone.”

It’s inaccurate to say that I am against removing “the miner who is addicted to a narcotic to the point of being a danger to others” from the workplace. Mines need to be made safer, period. However, as I stated in my original post, often these drug problems originate with mining. The U.S. Mining Safety and Health Administration has been continuously criticized for “serious and systemic lack of diligence in protecting miners,” most recently because of the cave-in in the Utah mine in August 2007 that killed nine people.

Drug testing is a band-aid solution that won’t get at the deeper issue of miners being hurt in the course of everyday work. The issue, by the way, is larger than mining. An editorial in the Charleston Gazette today outlined the issue, focusing on workplace deaths in fields other than mining. There was no mention of drugs, but of negligence.