MSHA data indicates 2016 as safest year on record for US miners
Published by Harleigh Hobbs,
Editor
World Coal,
Preliminary data released by the US Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) indicate that in 2016, 25 miners died in work-related accidents at the nation’s mines – down from 29 in 2015.
The figure represents the lowest number of mining deaths ever recorded and only the second year that mining deaths dropped below 30. Currently, approximately 330 000 miners work in more than 13 000 US mines.
Nine of the 25 fatalities occurred in coal mines – four in West Virginia, two in Kentucky, and one each in Alabama, Illinois and Pennsylvania. The leading causes of death were powered haulage and machinery, which accounted for six of the deaths. In 2015, coal mining deaths fell to 12 – the previous historic low.
Joseph A. Main, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, credited the agency’s use of strategic enforcement tools, including targeted impact inspections that address problem mines quickly, the pattern of violations regulation reigning in chronic violators, special initiatives aimed at preventing deaths that occur commonly, compliance assistance, training and outreach – along with improved compliance by the mining industry.
“While these deaths show that more needs to be done to protect our nation’s miners, we have reached a new era in mine safety in the past few years,” said Main. “Each year since 2009, injury rates have dropped, and the number of mining deaths and fatality rates were less than in all prior years in history except in 2010, when the Upper Big Branch mine disaster occurred.”
“We have created a new roadmap to protect our nation’s miners,” Main added.
MSHA has encouraged mine operators to put effective safety and health programmes in place that address the specific conditions and hazards; conduct thorough examinations of the workplace to assure that the conditions and hazards leading to deaths and injuries are identified and fixed before they pose a danger to miners; and properly train their miners on hazards and conditions that could cause injury, illness or death as they perform their duties.
Commenting on the new record in a media release, the US National Mining Association’s President and CEO, Hal Quinn, indicated that the Association is proud of the industry because “it exemplifies our commitment to making American mines the world’s safest and our determination to return every miner home safely after every shift”.
Quinn added: “This safety milestone confirms the value of our voluntary safety initiatives and our determination to achieve excellence in mine safety and health year after year.”
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/mining/05012017/msha-data-indicates-2016-as-safest-year-on-record-for-us-miners/
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