ARLINGTON, Va. — Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health Joseph A. Main told members at the annual convention of the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association in Baltimore today that mining industry improvements in the past five years have laid the foundation for better protections for miners. "We are seeing significant reductions in chronic violators, improved industry compliance, and successful implementation of standards in metal and nonmetal mining," he said.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 176 citations, eight orders and one safeguard during special impact inspections conducted at 13 coal mines and three metal and nonmetal mines in January.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration launched two new online tools today to assist operators, miners, MSHA and others in tracking violations of standards commonly associated with mining deaths and frequently found by federal mine inspectors in examinations of underground coal mines. The latest tools enhance other web-based methods MSHA offers the mining industry to operate more safely.

Who: Mine Safety and Health Administration

What: Public Hearing on Proposed Rule for Criteria and Procedures for Assessment of Civil Penalties

When: Thursday, Feb. 5 at 9 a.m. CST

Where: Sheraton Birmingham Hotel 2101 Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard North Birmingham, Alabama 35203 205-324-5000

Who: Mine Safety and Health Administration

What: Public Hearing on Proposed Rule for Criteria and Procedures for Assessment of Civil Penalties

When: Thursday, Feb. 5 at 9 a.m. CST

Where: Sheraton Birmingham Hotel 2101 Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard North Birmingham, Alabama 35203 205-324-5000

ARLINGTON, Va. — At the West Virginia Coal Association's 42nd Annual Mining Symposium in Charleston, West Virginia today, Assistant Secretary of Labor Joseph A. Main highlighted strategic actions the Mine Safety and Health Administration has implemented in the past five years to better protect miners and positively affect the mining industry's approach to safety.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Not long after a miner who maintained a dust collector machine at a cement facility in San Bernardino County, California, contacted the Mine Safety and Health Administration about safety hazards, he was suspended and then terminated in April 2014. MSHA filed a motion for temporary reinstatement of the miner, and the mine operator, Riverside Cement Co., agreed to temporary economic reinstatement. Ultimately, the company agreed to fully reinstate the miner and pay back wages in the context of a settlement.

Participant: Mine Safety and Health Administration

Description: The Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 117 citations and four orders during special impact inspections conducted at 10 coal mines and two metal and nonmetal mines in December.

Participant: Mine Safety and Health Administration

Description: The Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 117 citations and four orders during special impact inspections conducted at 10 coal mines and two metal and nonmetal mines in December.

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.