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Coal Mine Supervisor Sentenced for Falsifying Safety Records
By: Associated Press
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GREENVILLE, Ky. (AP) – A supervisor at a Kentucky coal mine has been sentenced for violating the Mine Safety and Health Act.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Daniel Couch Jr. was sentenced Friday to two years of supervised probation and fined $2,000 for falsifying a safety-inspection record.
Couch was chief of maintenance at the Ken American Resources Paradise No. 9 in Muhlenberg County. His job was to make a weekly inspection of electric equipment.
According to court records, a U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration inspector checked a record book in 2016 and saw there had been no inspection of the belt drive at the underground mine during the week of May 1 through 7.
The inspector returned days later, and the book revealed Couch inspected the line on May 7 and saw no hazards.