The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has reminded producers that mining in hot work areas during the summer can cause serious health issues for miners. Everyone needs to recognize the hazards of heat stress and mine operators should provide heat-stress recognition training, monitoring and personal protective equipment. Symptoms of heat stress, the agency said, include: hot, usually dry, red…
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Summer of safety
As we reach the year’s midway point, it is a good time to check in on the industry’s safety progress so far in 2023. In case you have not been following the statistics, I’m sorry to share the news is not as positive as we’d like to see at any point in the year, much less at the halfway point.…
Read MoreMSHA impact inspections target 20 mines in 15 states
The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) completed impact inspections at 20 mines in 15 states in April 2023 and found 335 violations. Since Jan. 1, 2023, MSHA’s inspections identified 914 violations, including 257 significant and substantial and 18 unwarrantable failure findings. An S&S violation is one reasonably likely to cause a reasonably…
Read MoreMSHA reports ‘Powered Haulage’ fatality
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has reported that on May 2, a miner at Plant 280, Brookings, S.D., died when he was struck by a mobile radial stacker conveyor.
Read MoreBeat the heat: MSHA issues health alert
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has reminded producers that mining in hot work areas during the summer can cause serious health issues for miners. Everyone needs to recognize the hazards of heat stress and mine operators should provide heat-stress recognition training, monitoring and personal protective equipment. Symptoms of Heat Stress Heat Stress Prevention Treat Symptoms DO: DO NOT:…
Read MoreMSHA Secretary Appeals to Mining Community
On April 14, Christopher J. Williamson, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, penned this letter to the mining community. Dear Members of the Mining Community: Forty-five years ago, Congress declared that the first priority and concern of everyone in the mining industry must be the safety and health of the nation’s miners. In the spirit of working…
Read MoreMSHA reports on 10th, 11th, 12th fatalities of year
MSHA reported that on March 15, a miner at Vulcan Materials’ Fort Pierce Mine in St Lucie County, Fla., drowned when the ground sloughed, causing the excavator he was operating to topple into a water-filled pit. The excavator became submerged in approximately 25 feet of water. It was the 12th fatality reported in 2023, and the fourth classified as Machinery. …
Read MoreMSHA Reports 15th Fatality of 2023
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reported that on April 9, a miner died at South Pittsburg Stone #2, Marion County, Tenn., while mounting off-road truck tires on rims. The miner was in the process of mounting a tire on its rim when another tire’s outer lock ring dislodged, became airborne and struck the victim in the head. This…
Read MoreMSHA calls on industry to ‘Stand Down to Save Lives’
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will hold its first “Stand Down to Save Lives” on May 17 as part of a national campaign to encourage the nation’s mining community to take steps to prevent injuries and illnesses and stop an alarming rise in the number of miners killed on the job in 2023. So…
Read MoreThe more things change, the more they remain the same…maybe
By Willa B. Perlmutter A couple of weeks ago, I attended a conference on occupational safety and health law sponsored by the American Bar Association for lawyers from the government, labor and private employers. (Admit it. The idea of hanging out with a bunch of lawyers for five days in a hotel ballroom thrills you, doesn’t it?) The first day…
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