mine safety

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Mining electrocutions trigger MSHA alert

The Mine Safety and Health Administration issues electrical safety best practices

December 3, 2019

In late 2019, a plant electrician with 15 years of mining experience was electrocuted when he contacted an energized connection of a 4,160 VAC electrical circuit. Two more mining fatalities by electrocution have occurred since. The electrocution deaths prompted the MSHA to issue a safety alert.

A Confined Space blog post

Trump names coal executive to head MSHA

Jordan Barab

September 6, 2017

As deaths in coal mines rise, President Trump last Friday nominated retired coal mining executive David Zatezalo to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).

MSHA to award $1M in mine safety training grants

‘Brookwood-Sago’ grants honor 25 fallen Alabama, West Virginia miners

February 22, 2017

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has announced the availability of up to $1 million in grants for education and training programs to help identify, avoid and prevent unsafe working conditions in and around the nation’s mines.

US mining deaths at an all-time low

25 miners died in work-related accidents last year

January 6, 2017

Preliminary data released by the U.S. 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.

A U.S. DOL Blog post

Competing in the ‘Olympics of Mine Rescue’

Jeremy Williams

September 12, 2016

As an 11-year veteran of the Mine Safety and Health Administration and a member of MSHA’s Mine Emergency Unit since 2007, I have responded to a number of mine fires and explosions around the country, the most disastrous being the Upper Big Branch blast in 2010 that killed 29 coal miners.

Safety academy marks four decades of helping miners

August 17, 2016

The National Mine Health and Safety Academy is celebrating its 40th birthday today with a ceremony in Beaver, West Virginia that honors the Academy’s legacy.

Six Russian mine rescuers die trying to reach trapped miners

February 29, 2016

The failure of a mine rescue mission on Sunday in northern Russia left six rescue workers and 26 miners dead. The miners had been trapped underground by a cave-in caused by methane explosions and fires.

From NIOSH Research Rounds:

New tool effectively measures airborne coal dust

February 3, 2016

From 1986 to 2010, 10 deadly explosions occurred in underground coal mines in the United States. The risk of explosion involves an interrelated chain of events. A source of heat (such as a spark) ignites methane gas in the air of the coal mine tunnel.

After safest year in history, three coal mining deaths in 19 days

January 22, 2016

Last year saw the fewest U.S. mining deaths since such data was recorded, but events so far this year suggest that 2016 will not be nearly as safe for coal miners.

U.S. mining deaths dropped to new lows in 2015

Work-related accidents claimed 28 miners’ lives

January 8, 2016

Preliminary data released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration indicate that 28 miners died in 2015 in work-related accidents at the nation’s mines, down from 45 in 2014.