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MSHA Announces Stricter Penalty Enforcement

April 4th, 2008 Posted by Amelia

The federal agency overseeing mine safety recently announced plans to correct a computer glitch and clerical errors that let some safety violators go unpunished.

Richard E. Stickler, Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, recently announced a comprehensive plan to ensure that fines are assessed for all safety and health violations issued by MSHA coal and metal/nonmetal enforcement personnel, also known as mine inspectors.

MSHA recently discovered that while 99.6 percent of all citations since 1995 have been properly assessed, less than one half of one percent have gone unassessed over this period of time.

“This is an institutional problem that dates back to at least 1995 and probably earlier,” Stickler said today. “The good news is that we have identified the root causes, and I am implementing a plan to ensure that MSHA improves the process going forward. Our agency will work to assess every single citation issued by our enforcement personnel.”

Experts within MSHA have identified two issues that led to the small percentage of unassessed citations. First, MSHA engineers identified technical issues with the MSHA Standardized Information System (MSIS) computer system. Second, MSHA enforcement staff identified management oversight problems that required attention.

Acting Assistant Secretary Stickler has initiated a two-part corrective action plan that will address both issues. The MSIS technical problems have been identified and are being corrected immediately. On the management front, new procedures have been implemented, and district managers in the agency have spoken to their respective offices to explain these procedures. They are in the process of creating new and improved management reports that will provide real time access to assessment data that will allow sufficient oversight, thereby alerting management to any issues.

“Citing mine operators for safety and health violations is one of the most important tools we have to encourage a culture of safety,” concluded Sticker, “and this improvement in the assessments process will further our mission.”

The nation has experienced a number of catastrophic mining accidents in recent years.

In 2008, the Crandall Canyon mine tragedy left 9 miners dead over a 10-day failed rescue operation.

During 2006, the United States suffered three major mining accidents. In January, an explosion trapped thirteen miners in the Sago Mine in Sago, West Virginia for almost two days. Only one miner lived. The U.S. hadn’t experienced a mine disaster like that since 2001.

For West Virginia, it was the worst tragedy since 1968 when 78 people were killed.

These accidents prompted the enacted of the MINER Act in July of 2006, which has already resulted in major improvements in safety.

As a result of this Act, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to increase seal strength in underground coal mines to 120 psi (pounds per square inch). The environment behind the 50 psi seals, according to the ETS, was to be maintained inert and monitored. The MINER Act set a definite time for the ETS to be in place, and MSHA delivered it seven months ahead of schedule.

Even before the MINER Act, MSHA has been working to strengthen mine safety. It issued an ETS on mine evacuations and enacted several programs to examine the practices of retreat mining, such as highwalls, roof and rib supports, black lung awareness and methods to control coal dust.

MSHA had also suggested that mine owners be subject to civil penalties when accidents occurred, proposing the greatest amount ever levied. In addition, MSHA suggested increased penalties for all violations.

Many changes occurred under the MINER Act, but one of the most significant was MSHA’s proposal to establish higher penalties for flagrant violators. Several citations have been issued under this provision for repeat offenders, one of which fined an owner for not reporting a serious accident within 15 minutes.

The accidents at Sago, Aracoma and Darby were studied by MSHA to determine exactly how the accidents occurred, and how to prevent such accidents in the future. As a result of these accidents and the subsequent studies, every underground coal mine must establish emergency response plans. These plans must include providing breathable air for miners who may get trapped.