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SAFETY CHIEF: INDUSTRY SHOULD DECIDE DRUG TESTING'S FATE

LOUISVILLE -- The mining industry and states should decide whether they want to drug test miners, the nation's top mine safety regulator said.

David Dye, head of the U.S.  Mine Safety and Health Administration, said last week that he is not urging Congress to pass a law allowing MSHA to test miners for drugs.  Instead, the federal government will try to educate miners about the dangers of using drugs at work, he said.

"We're looking at using all our authority and resources that are appropriate to deal with the issue," Dye told the Louisville Courier-Journal.  "A change of law at the federal level is always a long and arduous process."

Last year, former MSHA head Dave Lauriski said a federal testing law was one of several options being considered to help curb the growing problem of drug use at mines.

Two Kentucky miners who were killed in underground coal mine accidents in the past two years tested positive for drugs, according to coroner toxicology reports.  It isn't clear whether drug impairment led to either accident.

Currently, some coal companies have voluntary drug-testing policies, and Kentucky has a 15-member task force of industry, government and labor representatives discussing whether the state should have a testing law.

The state task force is expected to make recommendations this year to LaJuana Wilcher, secretary of the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet.