May 1, 2013 5 min read

The reduction in injury and fatality rates in this nation’s mines is a good indicator mine safety is moving in the “right direction,” said Joe Main, head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Main, a native of Greene County, said he believes initiatives implemented by MSHA have helped move the industry to the point it is now, a point at which injury and fatality rates are at historic lows.

“As we look at where mine safety is today, it is moving in the right direction,” Main said in an interview this week. “It has taken not only what we (MSHA officials) have done, but the efforts of the mining industry itself to help us get there.”

Thirty-five miners died on the job in 2012, tying the record low number of deaths in mining set in 2009. However, the number of deaths last year in relation to hours worked was the lowest in the history of U.S. mining.

In 2012, the fatality rate was 0.0107 deaths per 200,000 hours worked, according to preliminary figures released by MSHA. The rate of reported injuries was 2.56 per 200,000 hours worked, also the lowest rate on record. These reductions came after the prior year’s record historical low rates.

The number of citations and orders MSHA issued to mine operators also fell from 157,052 in 2011 to 140,007 in 2012, an 11 percent decrease.

Main said he believes initiatives implemented by MSHA, including impact inspections, pattern of violation actions and the Rules to Live By program, have all played a role in reducing injuries and fatalities and increasing compliance with the mining law.

Following the explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in April 2010, which took the lives of 29 miners, MSHA began conducting impact inspections targeting problem mines.

“We’ve gone back and evaluated those mines,” Main said. “We’ve looked at those mines, and they have improved their compliance and their injury rates as well,” he said.

The agency saw similar improvements as a result of changes it made in the pattern of violation process that it uses to address “chronic violators” of the mine safety law.

In 2010, the first year screenings were done under the new process, 53 mines were identified for potential pattern of violation actions, Main said. Last year, only 20 mines were identified for potential action.

“We went from 53 mines in the first fly over to 20 mines. That was a major reduction in the number of so called chronic violator mines,” he said.

The agency also has made sure improvements at those mines are long-lasting by requiring targeted mines to reach a number of benchmarks. “The whole concept was to require these companies that didn’t have adequate plans to protect their miners to put them in place and keep them in place long term,” he said.

Main also spoke about other programs started under his tenure that have helped increase safety in the mines and compliance with the mining law.

They include the Rules to Live By program, which focuses attention on the most common causes of mining deaths; regulations requiring mine operators to conduct more thorough mine inspections to find and fix specific conditions commonly cited by MSHA; and an initiative to strengthen the “miner’s voice” by educating miners of their rights and assisting those who suffer retaliation for reporting health and safety issues.

Main also spoke about improvements resulting from the End Black Lung – Act Now campaign. From 1968 through 2010, black lung has caused or contributed to the death of more than 76,000 miners, Main said.

“We’re still seeing miners get this disease, so there is a need for us to improve miners’ exposure to unhealthy coal mine dust,” he said. Since kicking off the program in fall 2009, Main said, the industry has seen a 14 percent reduction in the average dust level in underground mines.

Initiatives implemented by MSHA are making a difference in getting operators to comply with the law, Main said. “We’re seeing improved compliance, and I think the impact inspections, pattern of violations and some actions we’ve taken on the metal/nonmetal side, have had a lot to do with it.”

Many coal operators are on board, but not all.

“There are a lot of mine operators who have put programs in place to protect miners and do a pretty good job at that,” he said. “There are those that don’t, and we spend a lot of quality time trying to bring that group up with those that do it right.”

The goal of all the initiatives and effort, Main said, is to reach zero fatalities.

“I took this job with one simple purpose, to give miners a chance to go to work, do their jobs and like everybody else, come home safe and healthy at the end of the day,” he said.

“We measure our own agency by that standard. We have a lot of good dedicated people here, and that makes my job a lot easier. But that’s what we look at every day, driving the number of mining deaths in this country to zero. And I am one who believes that’s possible.”