Consol Pennsylvania Coal Co., LLC v. Mine Safety & Health Review Commission, No. 18-3078 (3d Cir. 2019)
Annotate this CaseStern was crushed between multi-ton pieces of mining equipment. The mine section supervisor, McDonald, got to the scene minutes later and called for an ambulance. Smith, a “fire boss mine examiner” and EMT, placed Stern in a neck brace. Stern never lost consciousness or the ability to respond to questions, nor did he have any problem with his pulse or breathing but he had signs of internal bleeding. McDonald and Smith requested a helicopter medevac service. The mine safety supervisor, Tennant, was called at home and went to the scene. He called the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) about two hours later. Mine operators must notify MSHA within 15 minutes after the occurrence of an injury having “a reasonable potential to cause death,” 30 U.S.C. 813(j). The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission and the Third Circuit upheld a citation based on the delay. Reasonable doubts must be resolved in favor of notifying MSHA; liability assessed based on whether a reasonable person in the circumstances would view the injuries as having a reasonable potential to cause death. The totality of the circumstances must be considered with the focus on the information available around the time of the injury; posthoc medical evidence is less probative. Given the knowledge and training possessed by Tennant, McDonald, and Smith, a reasonable person possessing the available information would have concluded there was a reasonable potential for death.
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