MSHA head: Mining industry ‘in much better shape’ as worker fatalities decline

Arlington, VA — Collaboration within the mining industry has spurred “significant improvement” in reducing fatalities, Mine Safety and Health Administration head Chris Williamson said during a July 10 stakeholder meeting.

The agency has recorded nine mine worker deaths through July 10. That’s 62.5% fewer than the 40 recorded at the same juncture in 2023.

Although Williamson superstitiously “knocked on wood” during the meeting, he also felt comfortable asserting that multiple ongoing efforts have helped spark a turnaround.

“The reduction in the number of fatal accidents is substantial, and that just didn’t happen by chance. Or at least I submit that it did not,” Williamson said. “I spent a lot of time last year talking to people all throughout the mining community. Last year was unsettling for a lot of people – a lot of people scratched their heads.

“But we had conversations. We all looked at it and said we must do better. And at least so far this year, the mining industry is in much better shape.”

One reason? Rulemaking, Williamson said.

In December, MSHA published a final rule requiring mine operators to have a written safety program for surface mobile equipment (excluding belt conveyors).

In April, the agency issued a long-anticipated final rule that lowers miners’ permissible exposure limit to respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air – half the current limit – over an eight-hour time-weighted average.

Williamson also discussed being moved by a conversation with a 34-year-old miner named Kevin, who is disabled from silica exposure and exploring lung-transplant options.

Silica is “a toxic substance. It’s well-known to cause cancer,” Williamson said. “It’s something that nobody wants to be around and be exposed to, right, certainly at certain levels that can make one sick. That’s why we did this rule. To not have any more Kevins. To not have anybody else getting sick from silica. To get rid of things like silicosis and progressive massive fibrosis and all these health terms. … And I think we can do that.”