Coal Mine Safety and Health

Linda Levine
Specialist in Labor Economics

Fatal injuries associated with coal mine accidents fell almost continually between 1925 and 2005, when they reached an all-time low of 23. In 2006, however, the number of fatalities more than doubled to 47. Fatalities declined in subsequent years, dropping to 18 in 2009. 

Coal miners also suffer from occupationally caused diseases. Prime among them is black lung (coal workers' pneumoconiosis, CWP), which still claims about 1,000 lives annually. Although improved dust control requirements have led to a decrease in the prevalence of CWP, there is recent evidence of advanced cases among miners who began their careers after the stronger standards went into effect in the early 1970s. 

In the wake of the January 2006 Sago Mine accident, the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) was criticized for its slow pace of rulemaking earlier in the decade. MSHA standard-setting activity subsequently quickened, however, after enactment in June 2006 of the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act (MINER, P.L. 109- 236). The MINER Act emphasized factors thought to have played a role in the Sago disaster and imposed several rulemaking deadlines on MSHA. The agency published the requisite final standards on emergency mine evacuation, civil penalties, rescue teams, mine seals, flameresistant conveyor belts and belt air, and refuge alternatives by the end of 2008. 

The MINER Act also required that, by June 15, 2009, two-way wireless communications systems and electronic tracking systems be part of emergency response plans (ERPs). But, on January 16, 2009, MSHA issued a program policy letter which states that "because fully wireless communications technology is not sufficiently developed at this time, nor is it likely to be technologically feasible by June 15, 2009 ... [n]ew ERPs and revisions to existing ERPs should provide for alternatives to fully wireless communication systems." The guidance sets forth "the features MSHA believes would best approximate the functional utility and safety protections of a fully wireless system, given the limitations of current technology." Because MSHA-approved electronic tracking systems now are available, the letter states that operators of underground coal mines are expected to provide for them in new and revised ERPs. 

Also on January 16, 2009, MSHA published a proposed rule on coal mine dust monitors that revises 30 C.F.R. Part 74. It would permit approval by MSHA and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health of sampling devices that differ from the design of those used since 1970. This change is needed to allow use of the continuous personal dust monitor, which enables real-time dust measurement and thereby "offers the best solution for protecting miners" from CWP, according to MSHA. The proposed rule also updates the design-based requirements for the currently employed device to reflect improvements to it that have been made over time. MSHA anticipates issuing a final rule in April 2010. This rulemaking does not address the requirements in 30 C.F.R. parts 70, 71, and 90 about the use of sampling devices (e.g., when and how often). That matter is to be considered in 2010, according to the fall 2009 regulatory agenda.


Date of Report: January 19, 2010
Number of Pages: 17
Order Number: RL34429
Price: $29.95

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