President Trump has been a cheerleader for coal miners. But these miners say his administration is failing to enforce limits on a lethal workplace hazard

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Can someone explain to me why in 2025 people are still ending up with black lung? Don’t they wear respirators on the job to prevent inhalation of silica dust?

    • silence7@slrpnk.netOP
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      6 months ago

      Over the past few years, mine owners cut on safety while Republicans blocked regulatory enforcement funding.

      • reddig33@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        From what I’ve read, that has meant more time on the job, increasing potential exposure. But I still haven’t seen anything related to respirators. Do they not wear them? Are they not provided? Do they not work? Are workers not being washed down to prevent dust inhalation before leaving their shift?

        • hateisreality@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          They are probably a pain in the ass to wear and the company has no incentive to encourage/mandate use… because just protection people from getting terminal illness for profit isn’t a good enough reason…

      • reddig33@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        If you’re not going to wear a mask, then don’t come crying when you get sick. 🤷‍♂️

        But seriously — is this why they are still getting black lung???

          • ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online
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            6 months ago

            The ‘study’ linking vaccines to autism was not a study. It was literally a paragraph in a paper that basically said ‘some parents think they saw autism like symptoms emerge a few weeks after they got the vaccine’. That was it. It was a hunch and speculation from the get-go. On top of that, Andrew Wakefield, the doctor behind it all, did that ‘study’ on purpose because he wanted to push his own quack medicine against those specific vaccines. It was a moneymaking fraud scheme from the beginning.

        • hateisreality@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          It should be the companies responsibility to keep the employees safe…I would suggest forced liability because companies can’t be bothered to care