WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a notice of proposed rulemaking by its Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs to revise regulations governing the standards related to self-insurance by coal mine operators.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Christopher J. Williamson issued the following statement in recognition of Dec. 6, 2022, as National Miners Day:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Mine Safety and Health Administration has notified the operator of the Morton Salt Inc.’s Weeks Island Mine and Mill in New Iberia, Louisiana, of the existence of a pattern of violations of mandatory health or safety standards under section 104(e) of the federal Mine Safety and Health Act.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Mine Safety and Health Administration is hosting the annual Training Resources Applied to Mining conference at the National Mine Health and Safety Academy in Beaver, West Virginia, from Oct. 11 to 13.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $10.5 million in grants to organizations in 43 states, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands to provide safety and health training designed to reduce and prevent mining workers’ injuries and illnesses. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $985,284 in grants to support the development and delivery of education and training by 10 organizations that will help identify, avoid and prevent unsafe working conditions in, and around the nation’s mines.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an effort to raise awareness of regulations that give coal miners with development of pneumoconiosis, or black lung, the right to work at a section of a mine with lower levels of dust without having their pay reduced or fearing discrimination or termination.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration’s “Mine Emergency Unit” bested competitors from around the world and finished first at the International Mines Rescue Competition, held Sept. 11-16, 2022, in Beaver, West Virginia.

WASHINGTON – The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission has ruled unanimously that the operator of a Francisco, Indiana coal mine violated mandatory safety standards when it continued to operate an energized drill during a methane inundation, creating the risk of a catastrophic explosion.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today launched an app for use on iPhone and Android devices that will help get timely information directly to miners and members of the mining community.

WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court ruled unanimously on Aug. 22, 2022, that the operator of a Lake County, Minnesota, iron ore mine flagrantly violated the federal Mine Safety and Health Act when it directed miners to work on an elevated walkway known to be unsafe for more than a year.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a funding availability of up to $1 million in grants through its Brookwood-Sago grant program to support education and training to help the mining community identify, avoid and prevent unsafe and unhealthy working conditions in and around the nation’s mines.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration has proposed nearly $1.2 million in civil penalties to M-Class Mining LLC, a Macedonia, Illinois, coal mine operator. MSHA cited the operator for continuing to operate the mine without evacuating miners with a fire underground and failing to notify MSHA of the fire. The fire broke out on a longwall section on Aug. 13, 2021.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration has launched a new enforcement initiative to better protect the nation’s miners from health hazards resulting from repeated overexposure to respirable crystalline silica. MSHA reports silica dust affects thousands of miners each year and, without adequate protection, miners face risks of serious illnesses, many of which can be fatal.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced the availability of more than $10.5 million in fiscal year 2022 state grant funding to provide federally mandated training and retraining of miners and mine operators working at surface and underground coal and metal and nonmetal mines.

WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court has ruled unanimously that the operator of a Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, coal mine violated the federal Mine Safety and Health Act more than a decade ago by giving underground miners advance notice that mine inspectors were conducting an inspection.

HANNIBAL, MO – A federal administrative law judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered a Hannibal cement company to pay a worker the company penalized for assisting federal safety investigators during a site visit.

WASHINGTON – A federal district court judge issued an injunction to prevent a Missouri mine operator and its owner from stopping federal inspectors from completing workplace safety inspections now and in the future at the Partridge Sand & Gravel mine in Stone.

WASHINGTON – Over the past year, dozens of miners have been injured or killed in mining incidents, many of which could have been prevented with proper training and attention to tasks. This unacceptable trend has prompted the U.S. Department of Labor to initiate a new safety campaign to reach miners and educate mine operators on their responsibility to ensure a safe workplace and prevent deadly accidents.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a new program designed to encourage and help America’s miners to get the COVID-19 protections that vaccinations offer.