Death percentage decreased in Miner industry but machine hazards increased 

Death percentage decreased in Miner industry but machine hazards increased 

 

The “collective effort” of mine industry workers and stakeholders in 2022 contributed to a 21.6% decrease in worker deaths over the previous year, Mine Safety and Health Administration head Chris Williamson said during a recent conference call.

MSHA recorded 29 miner deaths in 2022 – eight fewer than in 2021. During the call with agency stakeholders on Jan. 25, Williamson said the decrease represents “a lot of hard work from a lot of people: industry, labor, grantees, others that are involved in the industry, and of course our own MSHA employees and all the work that we do at MSHA.”

Still, Marcus Smith, chief of MSHA’s Accident Investigations Division, presented data showing that 10 fatal incidents in 2022 involved machinery – up from eight the previous year and four in 2018.

Death percentage decreased in Miner industry but machine hazards increased 
Death percentage decreased in Miner industry but machine hazards increased

“That represents an upward trend,” Smith said. “That’s something that we need to take notice of. We need to be aware of and work together to prevent these types of accidents.”

Smith named the top three root causes of machinery-related fatalities over the past five years. These involved the failure of the mine operator to:

U.S Department of labor to enforce penalties on exposure of worker to hazard

Provide adequate training.
Ensure that guards were in place while equipment was in operation.
Block equipment against hazardous motion before performing repairs or maintenance.
MSHA advises mine operators to develop and implement written procedures to assure MSHA-required training is provided.

In December, MSHA issued a Pattern of Violations notice to a Morton Salt Inc. mine in New Iberia, LA, marking the first time since 2014 the agency used one of its strictest enforcement tools.
“There’s no reason for any mine to ever be put on a POV, just to be honest,” Williamson said. “Because we have a POV calculator on our website and we have a [significant and substantial violations] calculator on our website.”

The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 authorizes MSHA to issue POV notices to operators who “demonstrate a disregard for the health and safety of miners through a pattern of significant and substantial violations.”

MSHA in January launched a Facebook page. “We’ll be posting a lot of good information on there,” Williamson said.
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Temi Badmus

Temi Badmus is a Food scientist and an Art enthusiast. Her desire is to give a listening ear to people and to give an opportunity for everyone to be heard. She's a humorous and controversial writer, who believes all form of writing is audible if its done well. Temi Badmus is research oriented, dog lover; she is currently a mum to two brutal Jack Russell terrier male and female - "Cash" and Indie
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