A new initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is aimed at addressing the causes and trends in recent coal fatalities. Of special interest: miners hired within the last year, or in their current job for less than a year.
The reason? Less experienced miners suffer injuries at a higher rate than more experience miners, according to data compiled recently by the MSHA – 903 injuries over one 18-month period compared with 418 injuries among those who’d been on the job longer.