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
What You’ll Learn From Reading This Article In 2017, there were more than 30,000 lost-time workplace injury reports filed in Kentucky, many caused by falls or slips, lifting and strains. Nursing and residential care facility employees, and those working in correctional institutions, transportation and trade, natural resources and mining carry the highest workplace injury and... read more
Synopsis Lee Allen Rhoads started the family law firm of Rhoads & Rhoads in 1939 as Rhoads & Baker, and in 1974, brothers Jerry Rhoads and Tom Rhoads opened the practice in Madisonville spending a great deal of their time representing injured and disabled coal miners. The business today is almost exclusively personal injury law,... 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
Workplace Fatalities Dropped in 2017 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) report released on December 18, 2018, there were 43 fewer workplace fatalities in 2017 than the previous year. A rate that also decreased from 3.6 percent in 2016 to 3.5 percent in 2017 nationwide. In Kentucky, the rate... 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
