MSHA sees spike in Pattern of Violations offenders

Arlington, VA — Mine Safety and Health Administration officials recently identified multiple Pattern of Violations offenders during a single screening period – an action the agency says is unprecedented in its history.

The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 authorizes MSHA to issue POV notices – one of the agency’s strictest enforcement tools – to operators who “demonstrate a disregard for the health and safety of miners through a pattern of significant and substantial violations.”

Mines that receive a POV notice must withdraw miners from the affected area until MSHA determines that the violation has been abated, an agency press release states.

In June 2016, MSHA announced it had found no POV offenders during a screening period for the first time since POV reforms went into effect in 2010.

Overall, MSHA went more than eight years between issuing POV notices – from September 2014 to December 2022.

The agency provides compliance assistance through separate online tools. POV monitoring notifies mine operators who are approaching POV status and alerts them to take corrective action. Miners also can track significant and substantial violations through the S&S rate calculator.

A January 2013 final rule permits MSHA to consider extenuating circumstances before issuing a POV notice and prompts operators to fix problems should they approach the threshold of a POV.

“A central tenet of a good job is a safe and healthy workplace,” MSHA head Chris Williamson said in the release. “The Biden-Harris administration will continue to use all the tools with which Congress empowered MSHA to protect the health and safety of the nation’s miners.”