“A recent review shows that overall compliance is improving at mines after receiving impact inspections,” Main said during his July address to aggregates producers. He noted that, since MSHA launched the program in September 2010, violations per inspection hour are down 13 percent after mines received an initial impact inspection; significant and substantial (S&S) violation rates are down 21 percent; 104(d) orders are down 43 percent; and the total lost-time injury rate is down 13 percent, according to MSHA.

“Unfortunately, there are still mines that haven’t gotten the message,” Main pointed out. “The egregious problems found during some of these impact inspections and the extreme measures MSHA had to take to find them — arriving off-shift and commandeering mine phones — validate the administration’s support of focused improvements to the Mine Act that will give MSHA the tools it needs to address chronic violators.”