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Remarks Prepared for
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
3rd International Mines Rescue Conference
Nashville, TN
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Welcome to the 3rd International Mines Rescue Conference. We are pleased to host the first of these conferences to take place in the United States.
Joining us today is Piotr Buchwald, President of the Polish Mining Authority and Director-General Wang Zhijian, of the People's Republic of China State Administration of Work Safety.
Everyone in this audience is here today because of your commitment and dedication to protecting miner health and safety and improving mine rescue efforts. Thank you for devoting your time to this very important mission, a mission that has gripped our country in the past few weeks with its very real consequences on life and rescue. Many people have worked to make this Conference informative and helpful to you. Hopefully, you will find it so.
Today, my remarks will focus on how education and training are the keys to building a culture of safety that will help ensure that each and every miner returns home safely to his or her family after a shift. Much progress has been made but more obviously still needs to be done. As you have heard, Assistant Secretary of Mine Safety and Health Richard Stickler is still overseeing and monitoring the situation in Utah. Richard has over 40 years of mining experience. He comes from a line of miners; his father and his grandfather were miners. Assistant Secretary Stickler has dedicated his whole life to protecting miners' health and safety. He cares deeply about the welfare of his fellow co-miners and is profoundly committed to ensuring that his fellow coal miners are able to return home to their loved ones every night.
Throughout history, mining has been — and still is — a hazardous profession. In the early 1900s, thousands of American miners died each year from accidents involving fires, explosion, cave-ins, and other catastrophes.
By the mid-20th century, many countries passed new laws and developed new tools to better protect miners. In the United States, the U.S. Congress in 1969 passed the landmark Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act. The Act led to new health and safety standards for coal mines.
As a result of this new relationship between the government, miners, and operators, mining fatalities in the United States have been on the decline. This includes coal mining, which has historically been the most dangerous type of mining. In 1978, the first year MSHA operated under the expanded Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, there were 106 coal mining fatalities. By the decade of the 1990s, coal mining fatalities averaged about 45 per year. As we start this new millennium, America averages about 33 fatalities annually at a time when coal production is at an all time high. While the rate of injuries and fatalities is on a downward trend, the goal should be zero tolerance for injuries and fatalities.
In the United States, the largest influx to the mining workforce was in the 1970's, a period when the industry was going through one of its cyclical highs. Many of the miners who joined the industry then are now nearing retirement age. Coal mining is on the verge of losing a generation of highly experienced mining professionals at the same time that increased worldwide demand for energy has made coal production even more critical. Coal is depended upon to power the factories, provide electricity for homes, and produce the goods and services that keep our country running. It also serves as a critical alternative to oil and gas. Precisely because of the pressures of increased demand for greater production, it is imperative that a culture of safety in the mines be the number one priority and concern, so that every miner will be protected.
Whenever tragedies have occurred, MSHA has followed up with careful reviews of its standards and enforcement policies to ensure that such tragedies will not occur again. In 2006, MSHA issued emergency safety standards that were eventually included in the MINER Act.
This legislation was signed by President Bush in June of 2006. The Act builds upon MSHA's ongoing efforts to protect miners through enhanced training, communications, technology, and enforcement.
Since 2006, MSHA has established many new procedures to strengthen emergency response plans, enforcement, education, and training in the more than 450 currently active producing underground coal mines. To increase protections for miners who work in underground coal mines with sealed off abandoned areas, MSHA issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on Mine Seals. It has required additional Self-Contained Self-Rescue devices, as well as supplies of breathable air, for trapped miners. And it has mandated evacuation safety and training, as well as increased penalties for safety and health violations. In addition, MSHA established the Family Liaison program to train individuals to communicate and support families at the site of a mine accident.
MSHA has strengthened enforcement, as well. In 2006, MSHA issued over 77,000 citations and orders in coal mines, up more than 10 percent from the previous year. In addition, MSHA issued the first ever citations for flagrant safety violations. MSHA will continue to use this important tool to ensure that the nation's mine safety and health laws are followed.
MSHA's top priority, however, is the prevention of accidents before they occur. And, education and training are critical to helping miners and operators ensure greater safety. Currently, every U.S. mine operator is required to have a plan for miner training that meets strict federal requirements.
As many of you may know, MSHA operates the National Mine Health and Safety Academy in Beckley, West Virginia, which is the world's largest training center for federal inspectors and mine safety professionals from all government agencies. Since opening its doors in 1976, the Academy has trained more than 500,000 mine professionals in safety and inspection procedures, accident prevention, investigations, technology, and other subjects.
This year, to expand training beyond the walls of the academy, MSHA has begun to offer entry level inspector classes on-line. Today, more mining professionals are able to complete their entry level studies on a flexible part-time basis and on a timetable that allows them to balance the demands of work and family. After this entry level course, they then participate in the remaining critical training at the Academy. MSHA expects to train more than 200 mining professionals within the first year. The result is that America is getting more mining professionals trained, certified, and out in the field inspecting mines.
The Educational Field Services program provides specialists who work closely with mine operators, miners, and mine instructors to develop relevant and effective training programs. They also work with other federal and state agencies to coordinate resources.
MSHA is also working internationally with many of your countries to share best practices and to learn from one another. Those who work in the mining community comprise an international fraternity or partnership that extends beyond borders. It is important that the global mining community share information, including best practices and the latest technologies, to improve the health and safety of miners everywhere.
In Ukraine, for example, an MSHA team is training government officials and mine inspectors to examine ventilation and create databases for the development and collection of accident data. The team is also training mine operators and miners in the use of appropriate safety equipment underground.
MSHA also regularly receives visitors from China, Mongolia, Australia, Brazil, and Canada to discuss the agency's structure and how to effectively carry out enforcement. In particular, MSHA and visiting officials examine the issues of mine inspections, assessment of fines, equipment approval process, and training.
While much has been done over the last several years, recent mining tragedies demonstrate the need for even more effective mine rescue efforts and development of better technology.
This Administration is committed to protecting the health and safety of miners. MSHA will continue to implement the MINER Act on time and according to the schedule that Congress has set.
And while the technology is not available yet, there is great pressure to develop post accident communications and tracking capabilities. MSHA is working with NIOSH in the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services and other countries in a collective effort in trying to develop the technology that will allow communication systems for transmission underground in mines.
Mining is — and always has been — a hazardous occupation. It is imperative that a culture of safety be developed within every organization where the core value of that organization states unequivocally that "Safety is Number One!"
Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the miners in Crandall Canyon. We also remember the families of the mine rescuers, three of whom lost their lives and six others who were injured in the rescue effort. Tomorrow night, MSHA will honor one of its own, Gary Jensen, in whose honor and memory a special award will be announced at the mine rescue competition awards ceremony. Their examples, and the bravery and courage that exist in this room tonight, are an inspiration and an affirmation of the collective dedication to do everything that can be done to ensure that every miner returns home to his or her loved ones after every shift.
Thank you for what you do to protect mine health and safety. Thank you for participating in the effort to improve mine rescue missions and operations. The mine rescue skills and expertise that are on display every year are essential and make the difference between life and death. God bless you all.
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