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Myopic Bubble If the agency weren't operating inside a myopic bub‐ ble, which it is, it would realize that it not only needs to lighten up, but also must begin offering the carrot of compliance assistance to the thousands of small operators who desperately need it. Main has testified at congressional hearings about "extraordinary" out‐ reach, education and training initiatives his agency is providing. But such assistance is invisible to the mine safety and health professionals who responded to a recent web‐ site poll asking if they agreed with him. Not one of them did. And we all know of his attempt to put the Small Mine Office out of business. It will do more with less, he asserts with a straight face. Perhaps cutting the inspectorate by a third will make it more efficient, too. The agency has set itself up for a serious comeup‐ pance. Lawmakers are agitated, mine operators are angry and the prevailing mood in the country is for less government. In other words, a perfect storm is brewing. MSHA is going to find itself squarely in its eye. E Holcim Pushes Safety Some companies give lip service to safety, oth- ers create a safety culture through action. For the third consecutive year, Holcim (Canada) Inc. is dedicating a day to occupational health and safety. All of its 3,000 employees will take part in vari- ous activities to help them be more aware of the dangers that surround them in the work- place and work in a safer manner. This initiative complements the safety related activities imple- mented throughout the year. "Building a strong safety culture through our ongoing OH&S; programs requires time, but since we introduced our Safety Day initiative, we have made tremendous progress," said Paul Os- trander, president and chief executive officer, Holcim Canada. "When we launched the pro- gram, we decided to address the most pressing issue, namely reducing the number of injuries occurring in the last quarter of the year. The fol- lowing year, we focused on the frequent but less severe types of incidents. And this year, we are addressing incidents that almost cause in- juries or equipment damage, also known as 'near misses.' " www.rockproducts.com Randy K. Logsdon Randy K. Logsdon, CMSP, is manager of safety for Intrepid Potash New Mex- ico operations. He has practiced safety on both the coal and metal/non- metal side of mining for more than 30 years. Randy is a Certified Mine Safety Professional. He can be reached at rklogsdon@mac.com. James Sharpe James Sharpe holds a master's degree in envi- ronmental health sci- ences and is certified in the comprehensive prac- tice of industrial hygiene, health and safety. He can be reached at arpemedia@verizon.net. Ellen Smith Ellen Smith is the owner of Legal Publication Services, publisher of , www.mine- safety.com. She has been covering mining issues since 1987 and has won 31 journalism awards for her reporting, including the 2010 Magnum Opus Award for Outstanding Achievement in Custom Media. Ellen can be reached at 585-721-3211, or at minesafety@aol.com. ROCKproducts • OCTOBER 2011 45 Health News Mine Safety &