A to Z Index | Find It! in DOL | [skip navigational links] Search MSHA's Website |
Mine Safety and Health
The U.S. Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) helps to reduce deaths, injuries, and illnesses in the nation's mines with a variety of activities and programs. The agency develops and enforces safety and health rules applying to all U.S. mines, helps mine operators who have special compliance problems, and makes available technical, educational and other types of assistance. MSHA works cooperatively with industry, labor, and other Federal and state agencies toward improving safety and health conditions for all miners. MSHA's responsibilities are spelled out in the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. Coverage The 1977 act applies to all mining and mineral processing operations in the United States, regardless of size, number of employees, or method of extraction. Thus MSHA covers two-person sand and gravel pits as well as large underground coal mines and processing plants. Organizational StructureMSHA was created in 1978, when the 1977 Act transferred the Federal mine safety program from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Labor. MSHA is headed by an assistant secretary of labor who administers a broad regulatory program to reduce injuries and illnesses in mining. Enforcement of safety and health rules and other responsibilities are carried out by two functional entities:
Other entities that have important roles include the following:
The nation's first federal mine safety law was enacted in the late 1800's; over the 20th century, many increasingly stronger pieces of legislation followed. The 1977 law that MSHA administers today combined and extended previous mining laws. Among other changes, the 1977 law extended to metal and nonmetal miners the same legal protections coal miners already had, while it further unified the federal safety and health program and generally strengthened miner protection in all types of mining. The Mine Act requires MSHA to make at least four complete inspections of all underground operations yearly and at least two surface mine inspections a year. Other provisions call for issuing detailed regulations on basic safety and health training for miners, upgrading and strengthening many existing mine safety and health laws, changes in the civil penalty system applying to rules violators, and greater participation of miners or their representatives in lawful safety activities. In recent years, MSHA has strongly encouraged the American mining community to join in a number of cooperative programs aimed at solving safety and health problems. While MSHA's program rests upon its congressional mandate to enforce the Mine Act firmly and fairly, the agency also has strongly emphasized the education and training of miners and managers in mine safety and health requirements as well as the use of compliance assistance for reducing injuries and fatalities. MSHA has long held that enforcement alone cannot solve all safety and health problems. For more information on MSHA, contact:
--The MSHA homepage on the World Wide Web through an Internet on-line service. The homepage address is: http://www.msha.gov. |
Back to Top | www.msha.gov | www.dol.gov |
| ||
---|---|---|
| ||
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) 1100 Wilson Boulevard, 21st Floor Arlington, VA 22209-3939 |
Phone:
(202) 693-9400 Fax-on-demand: (202) 693-9401 Technical (web) questions: Webmaster On-line Filing Help: MSHAhelpdesk@dol.gov or call (877) 778-6055 Contact Us |