What incentive do they have if they decide to cut costs? Or use the cheapest crappiest testing services?
These are exactly why we need government protection for vulnerable groups.
And what if the companies refuse? there will be some desperate person willing to not be tested and and risk it because they need a job.
"the coal miners argued that the shutdown of the CWHSP — which operates within the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health — means the government is not meeting its legal obligation to coal miners or others as the work the agency is statutorily required to do is no longer being performed."
The rest of the answer is below from the article:
NIOSH plays a critical role in the Part 90 program, which allows workers diagnosed with black lung to transfer to a less dusty part of a mine without facing retribution or negative repercussions from a mine operator. Miners transferred under the rule have their pay, benefits and hours protected while being able to work in an area that is less likely to advance their black lung disease.
In order to qualify for Part 90, miners anywhere must have their black lung testing results evaluated and marked eligible by a NIOSH worker in order to be approved.
And the resurgence of black lung is hitting coal miners at younger ages than ever before. This is due to miners, because of a lack of easily accessible coal, being forced to dig through more silica-rich sandstone than their predecessors in order to reach what little coal remains.
“We’re seeing a lot of younger miners who are at that point [of needing a Part 90 transfer],” Johnson told the court Wednesday.
