Articles Tagged with ''MSHA''

New respirable dust regulations that are intended to reduce the incidence of black lung disease among miners take effect today, over the objections of the National Mining Association (NMA), which calls them “one-size-fits-all approach” that won’t deliver real worker protections.

Despite outreach efforts by the Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), a high number of preventable mining industry deaths occurred during the first half of 2014, according to a mid-year summary.

A recent increase in mining deaths prompted the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to convene a meeting of mine industry stakeholders last week at agency headquarters in Arlington, Va. Assistant Secretary Joseph Main and his staff discussed in detail the 19 metal and nonmetal mining fatalities that have occurred since October 2013.

The National Mining Association (NMA) has asked a federal appeals court to review the Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA) regulation for the control of coal dust in underground coal mines, contending that the rule “embodies fundamental legal and technical infirmities in its scope, foundation and framework.”

Data released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) shows an uptick in mining fatalities during 2013 – despite an improvement in the overall injury rates for the mining industry.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has issued a Program Information Bulletin reminding the mining community of the process for submitting a corrective action program for MSHA approval and the tools MSHA makes available to assist mine operators in monitoring compliance.

Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship has taken to video to defend himself against charges that he is responsible for the Upper Big Branch disaster – to the outrage of victims’ family members. Dozens of them and their supporters gathered earlier this month outside a federal courthouse in Charleston, West Virginia, to protest the claims made in the video.

The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission has overturned a decision by an administrative law judge involving Wolf Run Mining Co.'s Sago Mine in Upshur County, W.Va., where 12 miners died in a massive explosion on Jan. 2, 2006.

In 2013, 42 miners died in work-related accidents at the nation's mines, an increase of six over last year. Of those fatalities, 20 were in coal mining and 22 were in metal/nonmetal mining, compared with 20 and 16, respectively, in 2012.

A worker at a Maine stone-crushing plant who was fired for making safety complaints will receive $6,000 in back wages, under a settlement reached between his former employer and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.