Mine Safety and Health Administrator Davitt McAteer announced that trucking company operator in Kentucky plead guilty to a charge that throughout 1999 he failed to provide required annual refresher training to his coal truck driver employees.
Maurice Dale Trivette of Pikeville, Ky., the owner of Trivette Trucking Co. faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 or both, plus a term of supervised release of up to one year.
Federal mining laws require all coal miners and other working on mine property, such as coal truck drivers, to receive a minimum of eight hours of refresher training each year covering topics such as mine safety, accident prevention, first aid and mine equipment updates.
McAteer said Trivette willfully failed to require his coal truck driver employees to undertake such training.
Trivette will be sentenced March 5, 2001.
by Virginia Sutcliffe