ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced it will hold public meetings in Arlington, Va., Sacramento, Calif., and Pittsburgh, Pa., to gather information about effective, comprehensive safety and health management programs at mines. The agency will use information gathered from these meetings to help develop a proposed rule for safety and health management programs for mines, which will enable miners and mine operators to be more proactive in their approach to health and safety matters.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced the second phase in major reforms to its pattern of violations process, which includes tougher provisions for mines with chronic and persistent violations of significant health and safety regulations.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced it has signed a cooperative agreement with the United Mine Workers of America Career Centers Inc., in which the UMWACC will receive $1,450,000 to develop classroom and simulated rescue training programs for mine rescue teams.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration has announced new screening criteria for the pattern of violations enforcement program, which gives the agency additional enforcement tools to use at mines with a history of violating safety standards. This is a critical first step in reforming the current pattern of violations enforcement program.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration announced that an Administrative Law Judge with the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission has ruled in favor of MSHA in a legal challenge filed last June by Massey Energy's Performance Coal Co. The company had challenged MSHA's protocol guidelines in the underground accident investigation of the Upper Big Branch Mine, in which the agency prohibited Massey Energy investigators from using cameras, collecting evidence, mapping and conducting sampling.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that on Sept. 23 the Federal Register is expected to publish an emergency temporary standard that revises the existing federal standard on maintenance of incombustible content of rock dust.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that, from April through August, the agency conducted "impact inspections" at 111 coal and metal/nonmetal mines throughout the country designated by the agency as having safety or health issues. During that time, enforcement personnel issued 2,660 violations, 45 percent of which were classified as significant and substantial.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced it has awarded $500,000 in grant funds to six organizations that provide education and training within the mining industry. The Brookwood-Sago grants program was established through a provision in the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006. The focus of fiscal year 2010's grants will be on training and training materials for mine emergency prevention and preparedness for all underground mines.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced the publication of comprehensive data regarding safety and health records of the nation's mines.

Mining community urged to focus on safe work practices

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today issued a safety alert and fatality update to the mining industry to draw renewed attention to deaths that have occurred this year in mines throughout the country.

ARLINGTON, Va. The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced the release of two new program information bulletins pertaining to the rights of miners who make hazardous condition complaints and request inspections, as well as miners' protections against discrimination.

Southwestern Virginia coal mine fined in 2009 mining fatality

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced $542,400 in proposed penalties against Big Laurel Mining Corp. The mining operation, located in Wise County, Va., was cited for five contributory violations in the August 2009 death of an electrician/repairman who was fatally injured when a portion of mine rib collapsed upon him. Two of the violations have been assessed as flagrant.

ARLINGTON, Va. – As a result of troubling testimony heard in a recent field hearing regarding the explosion of Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine, the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced the release of four new program information bulletins pertaining to ventilation issues in underground coal mines.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today filed a complaint with the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission alleging that a miner was discharged from his job in retaliation for engaging in protected safety activities. Ricky Lee Campbell, who worked as a shuttle car operator and bolter for several mines operated by Massey Energy Co., was fired April 23, 2010, after working fewer than three weeks at Marfork Coal Co. Inc.'s Slip Ridge Cedar Grove Mine in Raleigh County, W.Va.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that Kansas City Chiefs' running back Thomas Jones has become a spokesman for the agency's annual "Stay Out-Stay Alive" public safety campaign, launched in 1999 to warn outdoor enthusiasts, especially children, about the dangers of playing on mine property. Each year, dozens of people are injured or killed in recreational accidents at active and abandoned mine sites.

RENO, Nev. – In the event of a mine fire, roof collapse or explosion, mine rescue teams may be tapped to search for colleagues disoriented by toxic gas, trapped beneath layers of rock or severely injured. The teams undergo rigorous training to develop skills that often save lives. Those skills will be put to the test July 27 through 29 at the 2010 Metal/Nonmetal National Mine Rescue Contest, held at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center in Reno, Nevada. The contest is sponsored by the U.S.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced a competition for $500,000 in safety and health training grants to help identify, avoid and prevent unsafe working conditions in and around mines. This grant opportunity covers all underground mines, including both metal/nonmetal and coal mines.

WASHINGTON – Secretary Solis today issued the following statement on the introduction of the Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010 (H.R. 5663) in the U.S. House of Representatives:

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today responded to last week's alert memorandum issued by the department's Office of Inspector General, which highlights flaws in MSHA's past implementation of its Pattern of Violations authority, including setting limits on the number of mines the agency targeted for potential POV because of resource limitations. The Pattern of Violations process looks at mines with an inspection history of recurrent significant and substantial violations of mandatory safety or health standards.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration spokesperson Amy Louviere today made the following statement: