MSHA - Mine Safety and Health At a Glance

Printable Version Posted 4/8/2013

Mine Safety and Health at a Glance 3/31/2013

U.S. Department of Labor
Mine Safety and Health Administration

Safety and health in America’s mining industry made significant strides during the 20th century and over the last 35 years in particular. In 1978, the first year the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) operated under the new Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, 242 miners died in mining accidents.MSHA’s culture of prevention embeds safety and health as core values in all initiatives and ongoing activities. Inspectors are trained to direct their efforts to those areas or activities that are most likely to place miners at risk. Strong enforcement is supplemented by helping mine operators understand the law and how to comply with the law’s requirements.MSHA’s Technical Support Division applies scientific and engineering solutions to mitigate hazards. The agency’s Educational Policy Development Division provides education and training for the mining industry which is crucial to the reduction of accidents and illnesses. MSHA ensures that its training specialists and technical support personnel are readily accessible to the mining industry.

All Mine Safety and Health

	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012*
Number of mines	14,885	14,871	14,907	14,631	14,283	14,176	14,058
Number of miners	363,497	378,123	392,746	355,720	361,176	381,209	387,671
Fatalities	73	67	53	35	71	37	35
Fatal injury rate¹	.0220	.0199	.0156	.0119	.0234	.0114	.0107
All Injury rate¹	3.64	3.43	3.25	3.01	2.81	2.73	2.56
Total mining area inspection hours/mine²	43	44	56	59	63	62	61
Citations and orders issued³	140,082	144,125	173,598	173,204	170,445	157,052	140,007
S&S citations and orders (%)	32%	29%	28%	30%	33%	31%	29%
Dollar amount assessed (Millions)⁴	42.8	130.0	143.6	137.4	163.1	160.5	--
*Preliminary

Coal Mine Safety and Health

MSHA continues to work to bring fatalities down through strong enforcement, active outreach and education, and technical support to the mining industry.

	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012*
Number of coal mines	2,113	2,030	2,129	2,076	1,944	1,973	1,865
Number of miners	122,975	122,936	133,828	134,089	135,500	143,437	137,361
Fatalities	47	34	30	18	48	21	19
Fatal injury rate¹	.0400	.0293	.0237	.0148	.0384	.0156	.0151
All Injury rate¹	4.46	4.21	3.89	3.69	3.43	3.38	3.15
States with coal mining	26	26	26	26	26	26	26
Coal production (millions of tons)	1,163	1,147	1,172	1,075	1,086	1,095	1,017
Total mining area inspection hours/mine²	161	169	227	238	259	258	250
FY Inspection completion rate (%)	94.1	83.8	100	100	100	100	100
Citations and orders issued³	77,667	84,184	106,831	101,976	96,582	93,451	79,327
S&S citations and orders (%)	39%	35%	32%	30%	33%	34%	31%
Dollar amount assessed (Millions)⁴	29.9	99.3	111.7	96.5	110.4	119.7	--
*Preliminary

Metal and Nonmetal Mine Safety and Health

Metal and nonmetal mining includes production of metals such as gold and copper, nonmetals such as salt and phosphate, and production of stone, sand and gravel.Mining techniques and conditions are diverse and differ substantially from the coal sector. Most metal and nonmetal operations are small. MSHA has focused on small mines and formed partnerships to aid in accident reduction, and continues to work to bring fatalities down through strong enforcement, active outreach and education, and technical support to the mining industry.

	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012*
Number of metal/nonmetal mines	12,772	12,841	12,778	12,555	12,339	12,203	12,193
Number of miners	240,522	255,187	258,918	221,631	225,676	237,772	250,310
Fatalities	26	33	23	17	23	16	16
Fatal injury rate1	.0122	.0149	.0107	.0098	.0129	.0084	.0080
All Injury rate1	3.19	3.02	2.87	2.54	2.37	2.28	2.19
States with M/NM mining	50	50	50	50	50	50	50
Total mining area inspection hours/mine2	19	19	21	22	23	23	22
FY Inspection completion rate (%)	93.5	87.5	100	100	100	100	100**
Citations and orders issued3	62,415	59,941	66,767	71,228	73,863	63,601	60,680
S&S citations and orders (%)	23%	22%	21%	30%	32%	27%	27%
Dollar amount assessed (Millions)4	12.9	30.7	31.9	40.9	52.7	40.8	--

*Preliminary
**MNM completed 16,645 regular inspections in 2012. Primarily because of the number of intermittent operations in MNM, its inspectors attempted but could not conduct another 318 regular inspections. MNM conducted 100% of mandatory inspections at mines available for inspection in 2012.
1-Reported injuries per 200,000 hours worked
2-Total Mining Area Time includes: On-site Inspection Time (M/NM), MMU Pit Time (Coal), Outby Area Time (Coal), Surface Area Time (Coal), Citation/Order writing On-Site. On-site inspection hours represent hours entered by Authorized Representatives of the Secretary (AR) for certain inspection activities and task codes. 3-Citations and orders are those not vacated 4-Based on date issued. Data for 2012 are not yet available.

For more information:

www.msha.gov - MSHA Office of Program Education and Outreach Services, (202) 693-9400