MSHA kicks off its new safety initiative

By Kerry Clines, Senior Editor

In January, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced that recently released data reported an all-time low in the number of mining fatalities for 2009 (see “AggBeat” in the February issue of Aggregates Manager). On the heels of that announcement, at a meeting chaired by Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, MSHA announced the launch of a new outreach and enforcement initiative. The program, Rules to Live By, was designed to strengthen efforts to prevent mining fatalities.

According to an MSHA press release, the agency conducted an analysis of the 589 mining fatalities that occurred between 2000 and 2008 in order to identify the most common conditions and practices that contributed to mining deaths, as well as the most common violations of safety standards and root causes associated with these fatal accidents. The analysis identified 13 metal/non-metal safety and health standards frequently cited in fatal accident investigations. According to @IMA-NA, the e-newsletter for the Industrial Minerals Association–North America, the standards include the following:

• Operating speeds and control of equipment – 56.9101.

• Work on power circuits – 56.12017.

• Brake performance – 56.14101(a).

• Procedures during repairs or maintenance – 56.14105.

• Seat belts shall be worn by equipment operators – 56.14130(g).

• Seat belts shall be provided and worn in haul trucks – 56.14131(a).

• Machinery, equipment, and tools used beyond design – 56.14205.

• Parking procedures for unattended equipment – 56.14207.

• Safety belts and lines – 56.15005.

• Bins, hoppers, silos, tanks, and surge piles – 56.16002©.