Business : Coots Materials again honored for safety record

Those who work in the mining industry are less likely do die from a mining accident than being struck by lightning, and less likely to be hurt at work than the government officials whose job it is to make sure that surface mining jobs are safe, says Dave Coots. Coots Materials recently received certificates from the Mine Safety and Health Administration, honoring the company for more than 35,000 man-hours of work without a time-loss accident in the 2012 calendar year. "We take safety very seriously," said Coots. "We want to send our employees home to their families every night." The two men most responsible for safety are shop foreman Scott Kopf, who has worked for the Coots facility in Vinton for 11 years; and Tim Koile, who oversees the quarry/crushing operation in Monmouth, Ill. Both men were at the office on Monday to discuss safety and receive congratulations from their boss. Coots said he had received information indicatating that last year, 23 people died in the U.S. from being struck by lightning, while 22 died in surface mining industry accidents. "That's still 22 too many," said Coots. Kopf said that as a shop foreman, he is constantly looking over the work areas to make sure everything employees do is as safe as possible. The business has received such certificates for most years; Coots said that some of the injuries that caused the company to not earn such an award for any given year were as minor as sprained ankles. Minnesota Congressman John Kline wrote in 2012 that the MSHA had an injury/illness rate of 5.69 per 100 employees, compared to the mining industry's rate of 2.81 per 100 employees; the agency confirmed the accuracy of those numbers. One agency employee was among rescuers who died in the 2007 Crandall Canyon Mine Disaster in Utah See that story HERE.