The Annual Missouri Mine Safety & Health Conference (MMSHC) was held Jan. 14-16 at Margaritaville of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Mo. This year’s speaker line-up consisted of safety professionals from throughout the mining industry. Topics included leadership, training and responsibilities for mine supervisors as well as miners’ mental and physical health. The dangers and awareness of UG battery safety on proper storage and charging stations at the work site and workplace safety were also presented.
Miners heard life-changing stories from survivors of accidents and gained self-awareness of hazard prevention. Finally, the latest in MSHA enforcement and the future of MSHA were discussed as well. The Missouri Mine Safety & Health Conference meets quarterly to identify speakers and training information that are relevant to the industry. This bottom-up process has helped the conference grow from humble beginnings to now drawing over 500 attendees annually.
MMSHC has been growing year-over-year for some time, and 2026 was no different: this year’s conference cleared last year’s record with 530 attendees. MMSHC also welcomed a record 75 vendors in the expo hall. This tremendous growth is thanks to the support of Missouri’s mining community and producer companies that value the training and experience the conference provides. Many companies sent over a dozen miners and some miners traveled from out of state to attend the conference.
Next year’s MMSHC is scheduled for Jan. 20-22, 2027. For more info, go to www.mmshc.org.