Mine Safety

On March 1, 2011, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will publish a notice in the Federal Register extending the comment period for the proposed rule on Examinations of Work Areas in Underground Coal Mines for Violations of Mandatory Health or Safety Standards.  The proposed rule was published on December 27, 2010.  In response to a request from the public and to provide the opportunity for additional public participation in this rulemaking, MSHA is extending the comment period from February 25, 2011, to March 28, 2011.

An advance copy of the proposed rule is attached below.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that it will split the agency’s jurisdiction over southern West Virginia coal mines into two separate districts, a process that will begin in the second quarter of fiscal year 2011. Of the nation’s 2,100 coal mines, approximately 400 fall within the existing District 4 boundaries.

By TIM HUBER (AP)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Coal producers must do more to prevent injuries and deaths in the nation’s mines, the director of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said Wednesday.

Mine operators need to find and prevent their own safety violations and do a better job training new employees, among other things, MSHA chief Joe Main told members of the West Virginia Coal Association.

Main’s remarks come after the deadliest year in decades in U.S. coal mines. Forty-eight miners died in the nation’s 1,500 coal mines in 2010, including 29 killed in an explosion at Massey Energy Co.’s Upper Big Branch mine on April 5. The toll was the highest death toll since 55 were killed in 1992.