The U.S. Department of Labor announced a new program designed to encourage COVID-19 vaccination among miners in Kentucky and Arizona. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that vaccination rates are below 60% in the two states where a substantial number of mining operations exist. The department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will pilot the Mine Vaccine Outreach…
Read MoreOn January 14, the U.S. Department of Labor published a final rule in the Federal Register that will increase Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) civil monetary penalties by 1.06222%.
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This past year has been an exciting one for the staff of SEMCO Publishing and North American Mining magazine, and even more so for Miners News, which at the time of this writing is just over four months old. Despite its relative youth, Miners News had a tremendous growth in readership and interest. Here are the Top 5 North American…
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Labor will reopen the rulemaking record and hold a virtual public hearing on Jan. 11, 2022, on the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s proposed rule for Safety Program for Surface Mobile Equipment to improve safe usage of mobile, powered-haulage equipment. This proposed rule is one of several actions MSHA has taken to reduce fatal and nonfatal…
Read MoreIn early October, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reported that on Sept. 21, a 68-year-old contract truck driver with 20 years of experience was fatally injured at Bonito Pit in Valencia County, N.M., while operating a haul truck. The victim was found lying in front of his truck near the edge of a haul road. The truck was…
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In November, MSHA announced a pillar collapse program that has spotlighted limestone mines but could also have an impact on other commodity operations. The agency noted that, since October 2020, four massive pillar collapses have occurred in limestone mines. Each was accompanied by a powerful air blast and the formation of a large surface sinkhole. Fortunately, no injuries were reported…
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MSHA announced a proposed rule in October requiring mine operators that employ six or more miners to develop a written safety program for mobile equipment and powered haulage equipment (except belt conveyors) used at surface mines and surface areas of underground mines. The written safety program would include actions mine operators would take to identify hazards and risks to reduce…
Read MoreIn late September, MSHA announced the award of $1 million in Brookwood-Sago Mine Safety grant program funding to support education and training to help identify, avoid and prevent unsafe working conditions in and around the nation’s mines. “We are seeing an increase in mining fatalities, particularly powered haulage fatalities, and we must reverse this trend. The Mine Safety and Health…
Read MoreFor the seventh year in a row, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) found none of the nation’s 12,000 mining operations met the criteria for one of the agency’s toughest enforcement tools, its pattern of violations (POV) screening. In MSHA’s annual screening of operations from Aug. 1, 2020 to July 31, 2021, the agency found…
Read MoreThe Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reported that on Nov. 17, a customer truck driver at East Coast Mines Ltd., Suffolk, N.Y., was electrocuted after the tarping mechanism on the trailer contacted a high-voltage overhead power line. While exiting the cab of the truck, the victim contacted the energized truck and received a nonfatal electrical shock. When he tried…
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