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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.
MSHA News Release: [10/17/2002]
Contact Name: Amy
Louviere
Phone Number: (202) 693-9423
MSHA Establishes New Small Mines Division
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has established a new
Small Mine Office to address the specialized needs of the nearly 6,500 small
mines around the country. MSHA defines small mines as any surface or
underground operation with five or fewer employees.
“For the last several years, the fatal incident rate at small mine
operations has been more than double the rate for larger mines,” said Dave
D. Lauriski, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health.
“This new division will enable us to better focus our resources on
reducing these accident and injury rates.
“The miners working at small mines in this country, and the
operations that employ them, deserve the very best performance from MSHA,”
said Lauriski. The Small Mine Office will enable us to more effectively
accomplish the agendas of President Bush and Secretary Chao and to meet our
strategic program priorities that call for strong, fair, effective enforcement;
expanded compliance assistance, education and outreach; and national leadership
in promoting the value of safety and health.”
MSHA’s Small Mine Office will:
- Develop additional training materials tailored to small mines
- Provide on-site compliance assistance to small mine operations
throughout the country
- Expand training and informational resources on the Web for small
operators
- Focus compliance assistance and training visits on mines that do not
have their own safety and training departments and cannot use Web-based
resources
- Identify regulations that create an undue burden on small mine
operators and develop alternate ways to provide the same level of
protection
Heading up the Small Mine Office is Kevin Burns, a 15-year veteran of
MSHA. Burns has more than 20 years of experience in the mining industry. During
his career, he has worked on more than a dozen regulations, including Part 46,
roof control, impoundments at coal mines and explosives at metal/nonmetal
mines. He has worked in several different program areas within MSHA, including
Technical Support, the Office of Assessments, and Metal and Nonmetal Mine
Safety and Health.
Previously, Burns was the director of safety and health services at the
National Stone Association, an attorney with Buchanan Ingersoll, P.C., of
Pittsburgh, and a senior counsel with the American Mining Congress. He holds an
undergraduate degree in mining engineering from the University of Pittsburgh
and a law degree from Duquesne University.
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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.
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