Fiscal year 2016 saw a record low number of mining deaths, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has reported. The agency also continues to encourage the mining community “to reach zero mining deaths.”
Articles Discussing Health And Safety In Mining.
Mine Safety Agency Issues Electrical Safety Alert
The Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued an electrical safety alert after several miners were injured in underground coalmine accidents.
Mine Safety Agency Issues Hazard Safety Alert from for Truck Vacuum Operations
Static electricity during vacuum operations can result in accidents such as shock hazards, explosions, and secondary injuries from falls due to shock, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has warned in a safety alert for vacuum trucks.
Mine Safety Regulators Issue Seat Belt Alert
The Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued a safety alert urging miners to buckle their seat belts while operating mobile equipment.
Mine Safety Agency Warns of Equipment and Machinery Dangers
In the wake of three deaths over the past year involving mine equipment and machinery, the Mine Health and Safety Administration has issued a safety alert to prevent mining accidents: “Blocking Against Motion.”
Mine Safety Agency Issues Alert for Water-Related Fatalities
Working around, over, or near water is a safety hazard that may result in entrapment and drowning, the Mining Safety and Health Administration has warned in a hazard alert.
41% Increase in Citations to Mine Operators
Special impact inspections in July that covered 13 states resulted in 161 citations, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has announced. This is a 41-percent increase from the 114 citations issued the previous month.
Mine Safety Agency Extends Comment Period on Controlling, Monitoring Diesel Exhaust Request for Information
The public will have until November 30, 2016, to submit comments on the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s Request for Information on the agency’s strategies for controlling and monitoring exposure of underground miners to diesel exhaust.
Respirable Coal Dust Samples Prove New Dust Rule Is Achievable, Mine Safety Agency Announces
The Mine Safety and Health Administration has announced that 99 percent of the coal mine dust samples collected from April 1, 2016, through June 30, 2016, were in compliance with its coal mine dust standards requiring lower levels of dust. It said that this proves the “significantly positive impact” of its coal dust sampling rule, published in 2014.
Mine Operators Face Conundrum over MSHA’s RFI on Diesel Exhaust
The mining industry faces a conundrum over the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s Request for Information (RFI) for industry data and experiences accumulated by underground mine operators over the past 15 years. MSHA’s diesel particulate matter (DPM) rules require operators to maintain the information.
Mine Agency Focuses Attention on Workplace Exams, Diesel Exhaust Exposure
The Mine Safety and Health Administration has rolled out two initiatives: a proposed rule increasing requirements for workplace examinations that, MSHA says, is aimed at curbing injuries, illnesses, and fatalities among Metal/Non-Metal (M/NM) miners, and a Request For Information (RFI) on approaches to reduce the potential for adverse health effects from exposure to diesel exhaust in miners who work underground.
Mine Commission Upholds Safety Agency’s Demand for Records in Split Decision
The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission has upheld a judge’s decision favoring the government over a Western Kentucky coal operator who had refused to honor a directive to provide federal authorities with a roster of its employees. However, two commissioners dissented, asserting the government trampled on the operator’s constitutional rights. Sec’y of Labor – MSHA v. Warrior Coal, LLC, Docket Nos. KENT 2011-1259-R, 2011-1260-R and 2012-705 (May 17, 2016).
A whole new workplace exam: MSHA proposes major changes
At a stakeholder meeting today at its Arlington, VA headquarters, MSHA announced dramatic new changes to requirements that metal/non-metal mine operators conduct workplace examinations each shift. The official publication of the proposed rule in the Federal Register will launch a 90-day comment period that will include four public hearings around the country. Mine operators are sure to weigh in with concerns over the potential risks, challenges, and costs created by the rule. Read on for a full summary and analysis…
Citing Mine Inspector’s ‘Animus,’ Judge Softens Tough Enforcement Action
Convinced that the tough enforcement action brought against a West Virginia coal operator by an inspector for the Mine Safety and Health Administration was influenced by a long-standing grudge the inspector held toward the operator’s foreman, a judge has reduced the seriousness of some alleged violations, thrown out others, and cut the proposed penalty by 73 percent.
Mine Safety Agency Rolls Out New Fatality Prevention Initiative
Noting that 2015 was the safest year ever in the U.S. mining industry, the Mine Safety and Health Administration nonetheless has rolled out a new safety initiative, Rules to Live By (RTLB) IV.