Mine Safety and Health At a Glance
07/20/2015
U.S. Department of Labor
Mine Safety and Health Administration
Safety and health in America's mining industry made significant strides during the 20th century and over the last 35 years in particular. In 1978, the first year the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) operated under the new Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, 242 miners died in mining accidents. MSHA continues to work to reduce injuries, illnesses and death through strong enforcement as well as active outreach, education and training, and technical support to the mining industry.
All Mine Safety and Health
2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of Mines | 14,907 | 14,631 | 14,283 | 14,176 | 14,093 | 13,761 | 13,608 |
Number of Miners | 392,746 | 355,720 | 361,176 | 381,209 | 387,878 | 374,522 | 366,584 |
Fatalities | 53 | 35 | 72 | 36 | 36 | 42 | 45 |
Fatal Injury Rate1 | 0.0156 | 0.0119 | 0.0237 | 0.0110 | 0.0110 | 0.0132 | 0.0144 |
All Injury Rate1 | 3.25 | 3.01 | 2.81 | 2.75 | 2.56 | 2.49 | 2.44 |
Total Mining Area Inspection Hours/Mine2 | 56 | 59 | 63 | 62 | 61 | 59 | 58 |
Citations and Orders Issued3 | 173,549 | 173,068 | 170,065 | 156,380 | 138,960 | 118,203 | 121,474 |
S&S Citations and Orders (%) | 27% | 29% | 32% | 29% | 26% | 25% | 25% |
Dollar Amount Assessed (Millions)4 | 143.4 | 137.4 | 163.5 | 161.4 | 122.9 | 94.3 | 94.5 |
*Values are all inclusive of operator and contractor employees.
Coal Mine Safety and Health
2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014* | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of Coal Mines | 2,129 | 2,076 | 1,944 | 1,973 | 1,871 | 1,701 | 1,632 |
Number of Miners | 133,828 | 133,089 | 135,500 | 143,437 | 137,650 | 123,259 | 116,010 |
Fatalities | 30 | 18 | 48 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 16 |
Fatal Injury Rate1 | .0237 | .0148 | .0384 | .0148 | .0159 | .0176 | .0150 |
All Injury Rate1 | 3.89 | 3.69 | 3.43 | 3.43 | 3.16 | 3.11 | 3.11 |
States with Coal Mining | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 |
Coal Production (Millions of Tons) | 1,172 | 1,075 | 1,086 | 1,095 | 1,018 | 984 | 1,000 |
Total Mining Area Inspection Hours/Mine2 | 227 | 238 | 259 | 258 | 250 | 248 | 252 |
FY Inspection Completion Rate (%) | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Citations and Orders Issued3 | 106,793 | 101,904 | 96,352 | 93,077 | 78,857 | 63,217 | 62,684 |
S&S Citations and Orders (%) | 32% | 30% | 32% | 31% | 27% | 26% | 26% |
Dollar Amount Assessed (Millions)4 | 111.5 | 96.5 | 110.7 | 120.2 | 89.5 | 64.9 | 61.2 |
*Values are all inclusive of operator and contractor employees.
Metal and Nonmetal Mine Safety and Health
2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014* | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of Metal/Nonmetal Mines | 12,778 | 12,555 | 12,339 | 12,203 | 12,222 | 12,060 | 11,976 |
Number of Miners | 258,918 | 221,631 | 225,676 | 237,772 | 250,228 | 251,263 | 250,574 |
Fatalities | 23 | 17 | 24 | 16 | 16 | 22 | 29 |
Fatal Injury Rate1 | .0107 | .0098 | .0134 | .0084 | .0079 | .0108 | .0142 |
All Injury Rate1 | 2.87 | 2.54 | 2.37 | 2.28 | 2.19 | 2.13 | 2.09 |
States with M/NM Mining | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
Total Mining Area Inspection Hours/Mine2 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 23 |
FY Inspection Completion Rate (%) | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100** |
Citations and Orders Issued3 | 66,756 | 71,164 | 73,713 | 63,303 | 60,103 | 54,986 | 58,790 |
S&S Citations and Orders (%) | 21% | 29% | 31% | 26% | 25% | 24% | 24% |
Dollar Amount Assessed (Millions)4 | 31.8 | 40.9 | 52.9 | 41.2 | 33.5 | 29.4 | 33.3 |
*Values are all inclusive of operator and contractor employees.
**MNM completed 16,270 regular inspections in 2014. Primarily because of the number of intermittent operations in
MNM, its inspectors attempted but could not conduct another 559 regular inspections. MNM conducted 100% of
mandatory inspections at mines available for inspection in 2014.
Mine Contractors
2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014* | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coal Fatalities | 12 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
MNM Fatalities | 6 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
Total Fatalities | 18 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 12 |
Coal Fatal Injury Rate1 | .0456 | .0331 | .0158 | .0220 | .0077 | .0088 | .0142 |
MNM Fatal Injury Rate1 | .0150 | .0211 | .0326 | .0108 | .0072 | .0046 | .0222 |
Total Fatal Injury Rate1 | .0271 | .0266 | .0250 | .0155 | .0074 | .0061 | .0195 |
1-Reported injuries per 200,000 hours worked
2-Total Mining Area Time includes: On-site Inspection Time (M/NM), MMU Pit Time (Coal), Outby Area Time (Coal), Surface Area Time (Coal), Citation/Order writing On-Site. On-site inspection hours represent hours entered by Authorized Representatives of the Secretary (AR) for certain inspection activities and task codes.
3-Citations and orders are those not vacated
4-Based on date issued.
For more information:
www.msha.gov - MSHA Office of Program Education and Outreach Services, (202)