STATEMENT OF DAVID G. DYE
ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF LABOR FOR MINE SAFETY
AND HEALTH
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
AND EDUCATION
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
U.S HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 7, 2005
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
Thank you for the opportunity to present the President's
fiscal year (FY) 2006 appropriations request of $280.5 million (an increase
of $1.4 million over FY05) and 2,187 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions
for the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
Record-Setting Fourth Year of Declining Fatalities,
Injuries
A century ago mining was considered a uniquely dangerous occupation. In
1911, over 3,500 miners lost their lives. In 1977, when the Mine Safety
and Health Act was passed, 272 miners died on the job. A decade ago, 100
miners lost their lives extracting the raw materials that fuel our economy,
contribute to our national security, and provide the underpinning of the
American dream.
Today, I am proud to be here to tell you that for the fourth straight
year, the United States mining industry set its best safety record since
statistics were first compiled in 1910, in both fatal and non-fatal injury
incidents. Since calendar year 2000, the annual number of fatal injuries
has decreased by 30 – from 85 to 55 in 2004, a 35 percent reduction. A
few short years ago, those numbers would have been laughed at as impossible
goals. What we learn from that lesson is to set seemingly impossible goals – and
we will rise to them.
This tremendous progress is a direct result of the diligence
and commitment of miners, mine operators, and the employees of the Mine
Safety and Health Administration ensuring that mines are increasingly safe
and healthful places to work.
Every day, we remember those who have lost their lives in the mines. We
see their faces, we understand the human cost of their deaths. That is
why we in MSHA work tirelessly to ensure that every miner from every mining
operation in this country goes home safe and healthy at the end of every
shift, every day, and why MSHA's budget request reflects these priorities.
Our initiatives, programs and strategies are specifically geared to fostering
a culture of prevention -- instilling safety as a core value and making
safety part of every task in the mining workplace. We can clearly see from
the numbers that this approach is working.
Over the last four calendar years:
Although we are proud of the progress the industry has made, we are not
content to rest on our laurels. One death, one injury, one case of occupational
illness is one too many. The Agency is constantly examining its strategies
and looking at outcomes to determine how we can help the mining industry
drive fatality, injury and illness rates down to zero.
Driving Safety and Health Throughout the Mining
Industry
MSHA's FY 2006 budget is targeted at changing safety behaviors and working
conditions that contribute to injuries and fatalities. The budget promotes
a balanced approach to mine safety and health – continuing MSHA's highly
effective blend of enforcement, technical support, and education and training,
with compliance assistance underpinning all three. MSHA calls these three
components our “Triangle of Success,” which allows the Agency to successfully
fulfill our responsibilities under the Mine Act to protect the lives and
health of miners.
Our completed inspection rates continue to rise. Our inspectors continued
to complete 99 percent of the required inspections in coal mines between
FY 2000 and FY 2004. During the same time period, the completion rate
jumped from 74 percent to 90 percent of required inspections in metal and
non-metal mines.
MSHA is working harder and smarter. Our inspectors are trained and encouraged
to focus their efforts on those areas or activities that are most likely
to place miners at risk. Inspections today are much more than merely issuing
citations. We are looking for root causes of conditions and practices that
contribute to injuries and incidents, and we are looking for ways to help
the industry correct them.
We want to make sure that our inspections benefit everyone involved. Issuing
a citation is not enough. We want to help mine operators understand and
comply with the law all the time, not just when we are on-site. We are
not replacing our traditional enforcement strategy – we are enhancing and
expanding it to help mine operators run safer, more healthful operations
all the time, not just when they are faced with inspections.
Building Strategic Alliances
Many of MSHA's stakeholders have welcomed the Agency's collaborative approach
and have joined with us to improve safety and health in the mining industry.
Trade associations, labor unions, professional societies and other like-minded
organizations recognize the advantage of working together, rather than
separately, to reach our common health and safety goals for the mining
industry. These stakeholder groups have joined with MSHA in the agency's
Strategic Alliance program to combine resources and experiences to achieve
a safer and healthier mining industry.
The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA); the Industrial
Minerals Association—North America (IMA-NA); the National Safety Council
(NSC); the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE); the International
Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Ironworkers
(Ironworkers); the Bituminous Coal Operators Association (BCOA) and the
National Mining Association (NMA) have all demonstrated their commitment
to fostering worker health and safety in the mining industry by signing
alliance agreements with MSHA. These agreements go much further than just
putting pen to paper.
For example:
- The CEOs of the companies represented on the Board of Directors of
the NSSGA have formally pledged to adopt MSHA's safety and health
performance goals as their own. This is a first for the industry.
- The
NSC, not historically associated with the mining industry, has mobilized
its diverse membership to protect children from the hazards associated
with mine sites through the “Stay Out-Stay Alive” partnership,
and to assist us with professional development opportunities, including
making available their driving course to MSHA employees;
- The leadership of
the IUOE took a bold step in joining with MSHA to bolster our nation's
homeland security by undertaking joint emergency response training
and exercises. This is MSHA's first formal agreement with a labor organization.
- The International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and
Reinforcing Iron Workers (Iron Workers) is working with MSHA to develop
programs to improve the health and safety of workers doing construction
and demolition at mine sites. This cooperative effort has resulted
in 48 Iron Workers locals across the nation having instructors qualified
to teach mine safety and health classes. These instructors
have trained over 3,000 local union members to work safely at mine
sites.
- MSHA's Alliance with the BCOA-NMA represents the first national Alliance
with the coal mining segment of the industry. This Alliance promotes
safe and healthful working conditions by focusing on education
and training, technical assistance, and outreach and communication.
As you can see, our Alliance program is active and flourishing. We are
not only building relationships, we are producing health and safety tools
that combine the best of MSHA and the industry to help miners work in a
safe and healthy fashion. MSHA's Alliance program is living proof that
working with stakeholders is a positive and productive development.
And our cooperation extends throughout the mining community. For example,
MSHA, in partnership with the State of Kentucky and local governments,
achieved the unusually quick recovery of the underground Dotiki Coal Mine
following a serious fire in February 2004. As a result, 360 miners returned
to work quickly and safely. A similar recovery during December 2004 and
January 2005 at the Excel #3 mine in Pikeville, Kentucky is another example
of highly successful inter-agency cooperation. More than 90 rescue personnel
worked over 3,000 hours in extreme heat and in mine openings as low as
18 inches to contain the fire. MSHA personnel were continuously on the
scene throughout the fire, monitoring the situation for the safety of the
rescue teams and accompanying rescue teams into the mine. MSHA's mine rescue
robot was also deployed for its first time in a mine fire incident. It
provided real-time video monitoring of underground conditions before live
rescue personnel were sent into the mine. No one was injured in the fire
or subsequent recovery.
In addition, with the State of Kentucky, MSHA co-sponsored a drug and
alcohol summit to raise the level of awareness concerning the hidden problems
of drug and alcohol use in the mining industry. The summit resulted in
the formation of some productive relationships among the states in the
Southern Appalachian area and MSHA, and laid the foundation for further
collaborative efforts on this serious and growing problem.
FY 2006 Budget-Reflecting Today's Mine Safety/Health
Needs
MSHA's FY 2006 budget request of $280.5 million will further the agency's
ability to meet its safety and health goals. The request will help strengthen
MSHA's capability to help mine operators comply with regulations and allow
the Agency to continue to work with the mining community to drive down
fatalities, injuries and occupational illness to lower levels. And, it
will help reinforce MSHA's outreach programs that have brought significant
improvements in the health and safety of all miners.
Over the past four years MSHA has made major progress in reducing mine
injuries and fatalities. We are on track to make even more progress. I
believe with the proposed budget that we can further drive down fatalities,
injuries and occupational illness in the mining industry, and ensure that
every miner goes home safe and healthy after every shift, every day.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I appreciate
this opportunity to present MSHA's budget request for meeting our safety
and health performance goals. I welcome any questions you may have for
us.