ARLINGTON, Va. – Since October 2015, eight fatalities and more than 1,100 nonfatal accidents have occurred in the nation’s coal mines, resulting in restricted duty, missed days at work, and permanent disabilities for the miners who worked there.  While injury rates have been fairly consistent during this time period, records indicate a trend in accidents resulting in more serious injuries. The circumstances in at least 30 of the accidents might have led to fatalities.

ARLINGTON, Va. – Mine drill operators face their share of on-the-job risks. Failing to follow safe drilling practices can lead to fatal outcomes, as has been the case in recent years. In April 2014, a 53-year-old miner died in an underground gold mine in Elko County, Nevada, after his clothing caught in a jackleg drill.

ARLINGTON, Va. – A team from Carlsbad, New Mexico, beat out 35 teams from 16 states nationwide to finish first at the 2016 National Metal and Nonmetal Mine Rescue Contest in Reno, Nevada.

This year’s winner, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant’s “Blue Team,” held off second-place finisher, Vulcan Materials’ “Blue Team” from Bartlett, Illinois, and Newmont Mining’s “Carlin Team” from Carlin, Nevada, which rounded out the top three at the four-day event held in Reno, July 25-28, 2016.

ARLINGTON, Va. – Exactly two years after its landmark rule aimed at preventing black lung disease took effect, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today begins implementing provisions of the third – and final – phase of the rule.

Who: U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration

What: The Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today that federal inspectors issued 114 citations and four orders during special impact inspections conducted at 11 coal mines and six metal and nonmetal mines in June.

Where: MSHA conducted special impact inspections at mines in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.

ARLINGTON, Va. – A federal rule to protect the nation’s miners from exposure to dangerous levels of coal mine dust is having a significantly positive impact in Phase II, a recent sampling by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration shows.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today that cement producer CEMEX de Puerto Rico has agreed to pay $291,722 in penalties, and implement enhanced safety measures at its three MSHA-regulated facilities in Puerto Rico.

ARLINGTON, Va. – Forty-seven states and the Navajo Nation will receive a total of $8,441,000 in funds to support safety and health training courses and other programs to reduce mining accidents, injuries and illnesses, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today.

Who: U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration

What: The Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today that federal inspectors issued 89 citations during special impact inspections conducted at 13 coal mines and one metal and nonmetal mine in May.

Where: MSHA conducted special impact inspections at mines in Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today that – for the first time since reforms began in 2010 – none of the nation’s more than 13,000 mining operations meets the criteria for a Pattern of Violations notice.

BRANSON, Mo. – More than a century ago, a legendary and passionate safety advocate had an extraordinary vision for mine safety. In the early 1900s, mining deaths were practically the rule not the exception. In fact, more than 24,000 coal miners perished in industry accidents between 1900 and 1910.

ARLINGTON, Va. – On July 1, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration will begin enhanced enforcement of “Rules to Live By,” its initiative of standards commonly cited following mine deaths, and nine underground coal mine exam rule standards focused on the greatest risks to miners in underground coal mines.

WASHINGTON – To commemorate the 10^th anniversary of the enactment of the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Mine Safety and Health Administration Joseph A. Main issued the following statement:

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today published a Request for Information on approaches to control and monitor underground miners’ exposures to diesel exhaust. 

ARLINGTON, Va. – Michael Jay Nickels was driving a truck at a sand and gravel mine in Valley County, Nebraska, in March 2015, when the vehicle left an elevated roadway on an embankment and headed into a pond – leaving him injured seriously. Two days later, the 44-year-old haul driver succumbed to his injuries.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 90 citations and three orders during special impact inspections at 10 coal mines and three metal and nonmetal mines in April 2016.

ARLINGTON, Va. – In a meeting with mining industry stakeholders today, the U.S.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today a global settlement with Worcester Sand and Gravel Company, Inc., of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, to resolve citations and orders in three separate dockets. An administrative law judge with the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission approved the settlements amounting to $181,200, the largest penalty amounts recovered from a mine operator in New England in the past decade.

Who: U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration

What: The Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today that federal inspectors issued 157 citations, one order and two safeguards during special impact inspections conducted at 10 coal mines and six metal and nonmetal mines in March.

Where: MSHA conducted special impact inspections at mines in Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today released preliminary data for calendar year 2015, updating the “Mine Safety and Health at a Glance” page. The charts include information on inspections, violations and number of mines and miners. They also show fatality and injury rates for coal, metal and nonmetal, and all mining.