U.S. Department of Labor

ARLINGTON, VA – There were 24 mining fatalities in the U.S. in 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reports. This is the fewest annual fatalities ever recorded, and only the fifth year in MSHA’s 43-year history that mining fatalities were below 30. MSHA is still reviewing two cases of possible chargeable fatalities which, if added would make the total in 2019 the second lowest number of fatalities ever recorded.

"Today, on National Miners Day, we join our fellow Americans in recognizing the hundreds of thousands of men and women who perform painstaking work in more than 13,000 mines across the country. Every day, miners secure the raw coal, metal and non-metal materials that help power and build our nation.

At the Department of Labor, through the Mine Safety and Health Administration, we honor miners every day by working to protect their health and safety and to ensure they can return to their loved ones at the end of the workday."

ARLINGTON, VA – For the fifth consecutive year, none of the nation’s more than 13,000 mining operations met the criteria for a Pattern of Violations (POV), the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced today. The screening period started on September 1, 2018, and ended on August 31, 2019.

ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has announced the award of $400,000 in funding through its Brookwood-Sago grant program to support education and training to help identify, avoid and prevent unsafe working conditions in and around the nation's mines. 

ARLINGTON, VA The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) today announced that it will publish a Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register seeking data on economically and technologically feasible methods to protect miners' health from exposure to quartz. The RFI includes an examination of an appropriately reduced permissible exposure limit, potential new or developing protective technologies, and/or technical and educational assistance.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has completed a major upgrade to its primary data system – the Mine Data Retrieval System (MDRS) – bringing increased functionality and more intuitive navigation to this widely used feature.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has announced the availability of up to $400,000 in funding through its Brookwood-Sago grant program to support education and training to help identify, avoid, and prevent unsafe working conditions in and around the nation's mines.

MADISONVILLE, KY – United States Attorney Russell M. Coleman announced the charging of an additional former supervisor and safety official from Armstrong Coal, in addition to the eight previous officials charged by a federal grand jury, for conspiracy to defraud an agency of the United States government by deceit, trickery, and dishonest means.

ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reports that 27 mining fatalities occurred in 2018 - the second lowest number ever recorded.

Eighteen fatalities occurred at surface operations; nine occurred in underground mines. Approximately 250,000 miners work across 12,000 U.S. metal/nonmetal mines, and 83,000 miners work in the nation's 1,200 coal mines.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta released the following statement regarding National Miners Day:

ARLINGTON, VA – Seven months after taking action to strengthen enforcement efforts regarding delinquent fines and mine violations, the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced today that 49 mine operators have either taken steps to enter into payment agreements or satisfied their delinquent debts, resulting in $5.2 million in recovered fines.

ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has awarded $10,537,000 in grant funding to support safety and health courses, and other programs. MSHA awarded grants to 46 states, the Navajo Nation, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today the award of $250,000 to four organizations to develop and conduct training programs that support the recognition and prevention of safety and health hazards in underground mines.

ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will hold six public stakeholder meetings and a webinar on the Agency's Request for Information (RFI) on Safety Improvement Technologies for Mobile Equipment at Surface Mines, and for Belt Conveyors at Surface and Underground Mines. The RFI was published in the Federal Register on June 26, 2018.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced today the availability of up to $250,000 in funding through its Brookwood-Sago grant program to support education and training to help identify, avoid, and prevent unsafe working conditions in and around the nation's mines. Brookwood-Sago grants focus on powered haulage safety, examinations of working places at metal and nonmetal mines, or emergency prevention and preparedness.

ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) today announced  a Request for Information (RFI) on a Retrospective Study of the final rule entitled "Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust Monitors" in the Federal Register.

ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced today it is seeking data on technologies that can improve safety conditions for America's miners. MSHA's Request for Information (RFI) focuses on reducing accidents involving mobile equipment at surface mines, and belt conveyors at surface and underground mines. The RFI is available today at the Federal Register, which will publish it on June 26, 2018.

ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has announced the availability of $10,537,000 in 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.

ARLINGTON, VA – As the U.S. Department of Labor works to protect the safety and health of America’s miners, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) today announced that it will publish its Final Rule on Examinations of Working Places in Metal and Nonmetal Mines in the Federal Register on April 9, 2018.

ARLINGTON, VA – As the U.S. Department of Labor continues to protect the health and safety of America’s miners, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced today that it will reopen the public comment period regarding the Agency’s Request for Information (RFI) on Exposure of Underground Miners to Diesel Exhaust.