Articles Discussing Health And Safety In Mining.

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.

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.

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).

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…

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.

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.

According to at least one administrative law judge, neither the work product privilege nor the attorney-client privilege allows an Arizona metal producer and its contractor to withhold factual information gathered during the companies’ investigation of a fatal mine accident from their regulatory authority.

A government attorney agreed with opposing counsel that the Mine Safety and Health Administration had not justified a proposed 127 percent increase in fines against an Illinois coal operator. The two sides disagreed, however, on the remedy to correct the situation.

Two coal mines in Appalachia received no citations while four other coal operations in that region, along with an Indiana cement plant, were tagged with alleged infractions in the double digits by the Mine Safety and Health Administration during an impact inspection sweep in February. Ten coal mines and five metal/non-metal facilities in nine states were visited during the month.

A drill operator need not to be inside the cab of his drill at all times to comply with a mine safety standard stating that drills in operation “shall be attended at all times,” the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission has ruled, upholding a judge’s ruling vacating citations against contractor Drilling and Blasting Systems, Inc. (D&B). Sec’y of Labor v. Drilling and Blasting Systems, Inc., No. SE 2012-510-M (Feb. 22, 2016).

The Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued an alert calling attention to hazards associated with handling plastic pipe at Metal/Non-Metal (M/NM) mines.