Key Points of This Article A lack of workplace safeguards for coal miners represents an incredible failure of oversight that puts workers at risk of a tragic accident, preventable fatality, or lifelong illness. The presence of harmful substances or related environmental hazards should not occur inside Kentucky coal mines without the proper precautions to keep... read more
Rhoads & Rhoads is one of the largest personal injury firms in Western Kentucky with an earned reputation for being aggressive injury attorneys who get results. Personal injury attorneys handle all types of injury and disability cases including motor vehicle accidents, nursing home abuse, wrongful death, workers’ compensation, medical malpractice, disability and more. Statistical research,... read more
Key Points of This Article: Exposure to respirable coal mine dust can cause coal workers’ black lung disease, an irreversible illness to the lungs. A new study led by NIOSH researchers shows the occupations in the mining industry with the most significant exposure to respirable silica or quartz dust involve surface mine workers such as... read more
Synopsis Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis (CWP), commonly referred to as black lung disease, is an illness caused by inhaling respirable coal mine dust such as silica. Monthly benefits are available to coal miners disabled by black lung disease and financial support is also awarded to survivors and family members. The Black Lung Disability Trust Fund is now at risk of being able... read more
Synopsis From 1992 through 2017, heat killed 815 workers nationally and injured another 66,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. High temperatures and extreme hot weather can trigger dangerous conditions for workers in outdoor operations, making them sick from exposure and puts them at risk of falling, or mishandling machinery and tools. The U.S.... read more
First Kentucky Coal Miner Death for 2019 Reported in Bell County Rhoads & Rhoads is a law firm with a devoted history protecting the rights of Kentucky coal workers and their families. In 1974, Jerry Rhoads started the law firm in Madisonville with the majority of the practice focusing on representing the United Mine Workers’... read more
Investigators & Employers Knew of Coal Miners Risk of Black Lung Disease The multiyear investigation led by NPR and the PBS program Frontline is continuing to release more information about the rise in Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis (CWP), an epidemic commonly referred to as black lung disease. The groups continued their reporting on December 18, 2018 stating that... read more
Kentucky Coal Miners at Risk of Losing Black Lung Benefits The U.S. Government’s Black Lung Disability Trust Fund currently pays medical bills to more than 14,000 coal miners too sick to work when there’s no liable coal company or insurer who can be held responsible. When approved for use, the fund specifically helps those suffering... read more
Black Lung Benefits Take a Hit from State Workers’ Compensation Measure Coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), also known as black lung disease, is a complicated fatal disease that has been responsible for the deaths of about 78,000 coal miners since the late 1960s. A new tweak to a Kentucky law has caused an uproar with coal... read more
First Kentucky Coal Mining Death For 2018 Reported at Panther Mine We are saddened to read reports from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet in regard to the state’s first coal mining death of the year and fourth coal mining related death in the United States. It appears to have happened in Harlan County and... read more
