MSHA completes 12-month POV screening

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has released results of a Pattern of Violations screening that identifies chronic violators and mine operators that show a disregard for miners’ health and safety. The results follow the agency’s reviews which, for the first time, included more than one POV screening by MSHA in a calendar year.  MSHA conducted a POV screening…

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No time to put your head in the sand –  MSHA and failure-to-abate orders

Lately I’ve been giving some thought to what MSHA considers “enhanced enforcement,” which really refers to enforcement actions that MSHA takes against a mine operator beyond the § 104(a) citations that are the most frequent result of a mine inspection. (We call them “§ 104(a) citations” because the authority for issuing them comes from § 104(a) of the Mine Act.…

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Wait…What? A Potentially Dangerous Development in § 105(c) Retaliation Cases 

By Willa B. Perlmutter In my last column, I talked about a coming shift in the analysis the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission will use when it considers retaliation cases brought by the Secretary of Labor or by miners under § 105(c) of the Mine Act.  For those of you that missed that column, here’s the deal: until…

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Fisher Phillips: Five 2023 mine safety predictions

Editor’s note: the following is an op-ed from Fisher Phillips. As the calendar turns to a new year, the Mine Safety and Health Administration appears to have found its footing – and that means mine operators need to be on their toes in 2023. After a presidential administration change, retirements throughout the inspector ranks, and an anemic regulatory agenda, MSHA…

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The Sixth Circuit and Advance Notice – The Cavalry Never Showed Up After All

By Willa B. Perlmutter In my very first column for this publication, I wrote about the KenAmerican Resources case that was then pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, based in Cincinnati. At the time, I wrote that I hoped the Sixth Circuit would take the opportunity to provide much-needed guidance on what exactly “advance notice”…

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A Sword and a Shield: Workplace Examinations Under the New § 56/57.18002

By Willa B. Perlmutter In my last column, I talked about MSHA’s plan to issue a new rule requiring surface mine operators to develop and implement written programs that would improve mobile equipment safety. The comment period closed in February and, at this writing, about a month later, MSHA hasn’t yet tipped its hand as to what, if anything, it…

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