The Mine Safety and Health Administration has announced that, for the third consecutive year, none of the nation's more than 13,000 mining operations met the criteria for a Pattern of Violations (POV) notice, which would trigger a temporary ceasing of operations.
MSHA said its screening period ran from July 1, 2016, until June
30, 2017.
"A number of mine operators have proactively implemented
corrective action programs to address specific hazards at their
mines to improve miner safety and health, and those efforts are
paying off," said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine
Safety and Health Patricia W. Silvey. "Throughout the year,
MSHA works with mine operators and miners to identify and correct
recurring hazards."
One of MSHA's toughest enforcement tools, the POV provision
in the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 is a
designation that MSHA can assign to mines that pose the greatest
risk to the health and safety of miners, particularly those with
chronic violation records.
The Mine Act authorizes MSHA to issue a POV notice to mine
operators that demonstrate "a disregard" for the health
and safety of miners through "a pattern of significant and
substantial violations." Based on the Mine Act, MSHA issues
withdrawal orders to mines that receive POV notices, requiring
mines to temporarily cease operations until the violation is abated
for all significant and substantial, or "S&S,"
violations.
In January 2013, MSHA
published its final POV rule to strengthen safety measures
in the nation's most dangerous mines, allowing MSHA to consider
mitigating circumstances before issuing a POV notice and
encouraging mine operators to put in place a corrective action
program if they are approaching a POV.
In recent years, MSHA noted that it has developed two online tools
to help mine operators monitor compliance. One is the POV monitoring tool, which alerts mine
operators that they meet the screening criteria for a POV and
should take appropriate corrective actions. The second is the S&S rate calculator, which allows mine
operators to calculate a mine's S&S rate for a specific
range of dates.
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