None of the 13,000 mining operations in the US met the screening criteria for a Pattern of Violations (POV), says the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
The announcement follows the MSHA’s most recent screening, covering the 1 February 2019 to 31 January 2020.
The administration reserves use of the POV provision for mines that pose the greatest risk to miners’ health and safety, particularly those with chronic violation records.
MSHA assistant secretary David G. Zatezalo, says: “We'll issue Pattern of Violations notices when we need to, but it’s a good feeling to look at the screenings and see no mines meeting the criteria.”
Under the regulation, the MSHA may consider mitigating circumstances before issuing a POV notice and encourages mine operators to implement a corrective action programme if they are close to meeting the POV screening criteria.
The MSHA provides a POV tool to inform mine operators how they rate against the screening criteria. It also offers the S&S calculator to help operators monitor “significant and substantial” violations. Between 2011 to 2019, the rate of these violations dropped from approximately 32% to 20%, indicating an improvement in safety.
