State Safety

MORGANTOWN — Mining is a huge part of West Virginia’s livelihood and on Thursday, 40 mining teams from across the country tested their skills to keep all the miners prepared in case of an emergency.“Our number one goal is to never have an emergency where we need it, but if we do, we need to be prepared and have the proper steps and procedures in place to take care of those emergency. This is a great training opportunity for us,” said Jim Gandy, superintendent of Loveridge Mine, a CONSOL Energy mine in West Virginia.

Mining teams travel during the spring and summer months to compete in these challenges.

Teams from across West Virginia, Kentucky and Alabama made the trip to Mylan Park for one of the more challenging competitions.

But these competitions are not new to the mining community.

John Sabo has been a miner for 25 years and has watched the job and challenges evolve.

“They have evolved into a lot more complicated contests than what they were 25 years ago. As the teams get better, the judges and the problem designers get better and the problems continue to get better. They are always finding another way to challenge us and somehow they come up with a way to challenge us every year,” explained Sabo, the captain of Federal No. 2, near Blacksville.

All 40 teams are given the same problem and must complete it within 80 minutes.

Points are deducted if the correct safety measures are not taken.

Because emergency situations are not an everyday occurrence in the mines, these competitions are vital in keeping the miners prepared.

“The stuff you learn in these competitions is very important. If you have a real emergency, that’s what we’re going to use at that emergency,” added Sabo.

And despite the competition among mining companies and teams, the overall goal is to keep everyone safe.

“When you keep doing it, you really develop a brotherhood amongst all of the teams and then more so on our team. It’s just like any other sport. Everybody kind of gels together and it’s just one big family that’s what it is,” reflected Sabo.

Many of the teams in Monongalia County on Thursday will go on to a competition in Pennsylvania next week. Both Jim Gandy and John Sabo say this is a side of mining that many people don’t see and these miners make a lot of personal sacrifices to stay prepared.