ARLINGTON, Va. — Chester Fike was just in his 30s when he was diagnosed with black lung. As the disease progressed, the West Virginia coal miner was eventually so incapacitated that a simple walk with his family was impossible. In the summer of 2012, four months after a double lung transplant raised hopes for a second chance, Fike lost his fight for life at 60.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Wielding a large rotating steel drum equipped with sharp tungsten carbide teeth, a continuous mining machine scrapes coal from the mine's seams and drops it onto conveyor belts or into shuttle cars for transport to the surface. As it moves from one tight space to another underground, the massive machine leaves little room — and margin for error — for miners in its path. This high-powered scraper is one of the most efficient methods for extracting coal, yet not without its risks.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Preliminary data released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration indicates that 40 miners died in work-related accidents at the nation's mines in 2014, two fewer than in the previous year.* Coal mining deaths dropped from 20 in 2013 to 16 in 2014, the lowest annual number of coal mining deaths ever recorded in the United States. The previous record low was 18 in 2009.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 199 citations and 19 orders during special impact inspections conducted at 10 coal mines and six metal and nonmetal mines in November.

ARLINGTON, Va. — On Dec. 6, the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration marks National Miners Day, designated by Congress to honor the contributions and sacrifices of miners, both past and present. The date commemorates the worst industrial mine accident in American history when 362 miners perished in an explosion at the No. 6 and No. 8 mines in Monongah, West Virginia, on this date in 1907.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 127 citations and six orders during special impact inspections conducted at 12 coal mines in October.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 192 citations, five orders and one safeguard during special impact inspections conducted at nine coal and four metal and nonmetal mines in September.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration will commemorate the second annual Mine Rescue Day on Thursday, Oct. 30, during a meeting of the Holmes Mine Rescue Association at the National Mine Health and Safety Academy in Beaver, West Virginia.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today released a summary of U.S. mining deaths that occurred during the third quarter of 2014. From July 1 to Sept. 30, eight miners were killed in accidents at work, including five in metal and nonmetal mining and three in coal mining. In that same period in 2013, nine miners died in mining accidents.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that it has imposed a fine of $1,077,800 following its investigation into the deaths of two miners at Revenue Mine on Nov. 17, 2013. The underground silver ore mine, located in Ouray County, Colorado, was operated by Star Mine Operations LLC.

WASHINGTON — Despite concerns voiced by the mining industry that it would have trouble meeting the requirements of the rule to reduce respirable coal mine dust, approximately 99 percent of the 7,456 valid respirable dust samples collected during the first two months under the new rule met compliance levels, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today that the Nationwide Coal Mine Rescue Skills Championship, hosted by the Mining Technology and Training Center in Prosperity, Pennsylvania, drew 24 mine rescue teams from across the country for two days of competition. The winners were announced on Oct.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today released the findings of its investigation into an accident in May at Brody Mine No. 1 that killed two miners. The underground coal mine, located in Boone County, West Virginia, is operated by Brody Mining LLC, a subsidiary of Patriot Coal Corp.

WASHINGTON — The pattern of violations reforms undertaken by the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration have been "a game changer in mine safety and health culture," Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health Joseph A. Main said as the reforms near their second anniversary.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today awarded $1 million through its Brookwood-Sago grants program to seven organizations that provide education and training within the mining industry. The funding will be used to develop and implement training and related materials for mine emergency preparedness, as well as for the prevention of accidents in all underground mines.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration put Star Mine Operations LLC's Revenue Mine in Ouray County, Colorado, on notice today of a pattern of violations of mandatory health or safety standards under Section 104(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. Revenue is an underground silver ore operation.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 131 citations and 11 orders during special impact inspections conducted at 12 coal mines in August.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 190 citations and eight orders during special impact inspections conducted at 15 coal mines and three metal and nonmetal mines in July.

The monthly inspections, which began in force in April 2010 following the explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine, involve mines that merit increased agency attention and enforcement due to their poor compliance history or particular compliance concerns.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today that it has allocated $8,348,423 in health and safety training grants for 46 states and the Navajo Nation in fiscal year 2014.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Doe Run Co.'s "Maroon Team" from Viburnum, Missouri, won the 2014 National Metal and Nonmetal Mine Rescue Contest held Aug. 4-7 in Lexington, Kentucky. FMC Minerals' "Red Team" from Green River, Wyoming, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's "WIPP Red Team" from Carlsbad, New Mexico, rounded out the top three.