This HR Strange but True story has a happy ending for 117 workers but not for the person who didn’t follow a workplace policy. Well, actually the employee didn’t just allegedly break a workplace ban; he could be guilty of criminal violations of a state law—and risking a catastrophe.
Hard as it is to believe, the employee is said to have violated the Pennsylvania Bituminous Coal Mine Act by smoking in a coal mine!
Remember how in the old days, miners would take canaries or other caged birds down into the shafts with them to detect methane gas? Well, the coworkers at the Emerald Mine may not have had canaries, but they smelled something themselves—heavy tobacco smoke.
While investigating, some men found a water bottle with a burnt cigarette inside. After exiting through the air locks to continue their search, they smelled smoke on a coworker sitting there.
And yes, the state attorney general confirms in a press release methane gas was present in the mine at the time. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection was called in and the nicotine-smelling miner was charged with unlawful conduct, risking a catastrophe, and reckless endangerment, according to the release, with bail set at $50,000.
The alleged smoker will face a trial prosecuted by a deputy attorney general in the Environmental Crimes Section. Hopefully, he will have no telltale odors at the trial.