KY House votes to decrease emergency safety measures in small coal mines [Video]

• The Kentucky House passed House Bill 85, allowing smaller coal mining operations to reduce the number of miners with emergency medical training required for each underground shift.
• Supporters said that the measure is necessary to support small mining operations while facing the industry’s decline in Kentucky.
• Critics have voiced concerns that the bill compromises miner safety, sacrificing it for financial gain.

The Kentucky House voted Monday to allow the state’s smallest coal mining operations to reduce the number of miners with emergency medical training assigned for each underground shift.

In a state once known as a coal producing powerhouse, supporters said the measure is needed to help keep the smallest mining operations in business amid the industry’s downturn. The bill’s critics warned it would roll back an important safeguard enacted years ago following a Kentucky mining fatality.

“It truly troubles me to think that we could potentially be trading the safety of our coal mining …