Jul. 08, 2006 - 19:37 MDT

SHOULD BE ZERO

Way back in mid-section of this mornings Rocky Mountain News, in the National Briefing is a shorty that exposes a shameful situation.

KENTUCKY

Pikeville -- "State regulators conducting a review of mining equipment found more than 100 defective air packs of the same type used by victims of recent mine explosions in Kentucky and West Virginia, officials said."

"Gov. Ernie Fletcher ordered the statewide review."

"The 119 defective air packs were found among "several thousand" inspected at 174 Kentucky mines, said Mark York, spokesman for the state's Environmental and Pubnlic Protection Cabinet."

+++++++++++++

I guess the normal reaction to this is, "Someone oughta get the manufacturer for this." But there are many factors dealing with safety equipment, probably more important than the shelf life of canned vegetables, to my way of looking at things.

Were those air packs kept for service past their expiration dates ? Were they kept in an environment where they were not exposed to heat or cold above and/or below the range specified ? If periodic recharging is required -- were they recharged when required ? Were they mishandled, stacked in piles too high ? Handled too roughly ?

I remember working in places where the fire extinguishers were so far out of date that it boggled my mind. And in that, lives were at stake too. Yet owners paid little attention to the safety requirements of law.

It is so easy to disregard things like that, thinking that nothing will ever happen to make it necessary to use safety equipment.

I remember working in tests for military restraints for aircraft use. The testing involved was intense, and I am sure that it is also intense for automobiles. But if not tested or used properly it can get fatal. So many "what ifs" are covered in test procedures that it is pretty well impossible for the equipment to fail in service.

Provided of course, that said equipment is not out of date, has been stored correctly and used properly.

I do hope the authorities investigate far enough to determine why the air packs tested "defective."

When it comes to safety equipment, survival gear and such it is required that in defects, there SHOULD BE ZERO . . . . . . . .

Blog