ARLINGTON, Va. – For the 11th consecutive year, the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) today launched its annual "Stay Out – Stay Alive" public safety campaign to warn outdoor enthusiasts – especially children – about the dangers of playing on mine property. Since 1999, nearly 300 people have lost their lives in recreational accidents at mine properties. Almost half of all victims are 15 to 25 years of age, and the most common cause of death is drowning in a quarry.

ARLINGTON, Va. – Preliminary data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) released today show that mine fatalities in 2008 fell to an all-time low recording a 31 percent drop from 2007. Metal/nonmetal mines recorded the lowest level of fatalities in that sector of mining since statistics were first recorded in 1910, and the fatality level in coal mines was the lowest recorded number since 2005.