Inaugural stand-down for miner safety kicks off this week

Arlington, VA — The Stand Down to Save Lives, set for May 17, is an “opportunity for mine owners and operators to share safety measures that can prevent injuries and deaths.”

The stand-down event’s webpage features resources mine owners and operators can use to talk to their teams about safety. The resources include a downloadable poster, a feedback form to share photos and information about safety-related matters, and a social media toolkit.

Mine Safety and Health Administration head Chris Williamson, who announced the inaugural safety event in an April 14 letter, said the agency has recorded 16 miner deaths so far this year. That’s more than half of the 29 recorded all of last year. The fatalities have involved vehicle collisions, electrocutions, falls from elevated surfaces, equipment rollovers and drowning.

“I know that the entire community finds the troubling number of fatalities so far this year unacceptable,” the letter states. “Reversing it will require the efforts of everyone in the mining community. MSHA knows that we cannot do this alone, and I am confident that we can count on you to continue to work with us to achieve significant improvement in miners’ safety and health. The nation’s miners, their families and mining communities deserve no less.”