Safety Materials

Safety Alert: 2025 Fatality Increase

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Ten miner fatalities occurred between January 3 and March 5, 2025 – more than triple the number for the same period in 2024.  Accidents classified as Powered Haulage remain the most common with four fatalities, followed by Machinery (two fatalities), and Fall of Face, Rib, Side or Highwall (two fatalities). 

Four fatalities involved failures of ground or coal rib conditions.  Four fatalities involved improper maintenance or unsafe operation of equipment.  One fatality involved explosives, and another involved not locking and tagging out equipment.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration asks you to remain vigilant every day at our nation’s mines.  Fatalities can be prevented by implementing effective safety and health programs.  Important elements in any safety and health program include workplace examinations, hazard recognition and avoidance, and training.  To prevent serious and fatal accidents, everyone in the mining industry needs to be alert for hazards.

MSHA is urging the mining community to focus on identifying and eliminating safety and health hazards.  When we work together, we can succeed in improving safety and health for miners.

Best Practices

  • Conduct examinations prior to working or traveling near ribs and highwalls.  For highwalls, conduct more frequent examinations after periods of rain, freezing, and thawing.
  • Operate and maintain equipment in accordance with manufacturer’s recommendations.
  • Clear and remove all persons from the blast area unless suitable blasting shelters are provided to protect persons from flyrock.
  • Develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure tasks are performed safely.
    • Train miners in safe maintenance and repair procedures.  This includes safe access, lock out/tag out, and blocking equipment against hazardous motion.
    • Train miners on how to identify hazards and unsafe work practices and give them the ability to stop unsafe activity.  

– MSHA

Click here for: MSHA Alert (pdf).

MSHA Winter Safety Alert

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Winter poses unique challenges at all types of mine sites, including snow, ice, freezing temperatures, and strong winds. Miners and operators must take proactive measures to stay safe and reduce accidents and injuries.

Key Best Practices:

  • Ventilation & Air Quality: Properly ventilate work areas and maintain equipment to prevent harmful gas accumulation, including carbon monoxide.
  • Cold Stress Prevention: Know wind chill temperatures and prepare for frostbite, hypothermia, and cold stress by using appropriate protective gear and monitoring conditions.
  • Surface Maintenance: Clear snow and ice from travelways, apply sand or salt to improve traction, and inspect highwalls and roadways after freezing conditions.
  • Equipment Safety: Inspect and maintain equipment regularly, including vehicle exhaust systems, to ensure safe operation during cold weather.

Protect yourself and fellow miners by using printable best practices available under “Related Links” and sharing on email and social media. Together, we can reduce winter-related incidents and keep everyone safe through the cold months. Click here.

Safety is a shared responsibility—let’s ensure winter safety for all miners, keeping our mine sites incident-free and prepared for the unique challenges of the season.

-MSHA

Safety Alert: Dump Point and Stockpile Safety

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Recent accidents highlight the risks associated with dump points and stockpiles, especially where stockpile stability and visibility are of concern. Fatalities and serious injuries have occurred when heavy equipment operators traveled or dumped material too close to a stockpile edge or worked too close to the toe of an over-steepened stockpile. – MSHA

Click here to download PDF.

Customer Truck Driver – Safety Alert

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Since 2021, customer truck drivers have been involved in six fatal accidents.

Best Practices

  • Provide site-specific hazard awareness training to customers, including commercial over-the-road truck drivers. 
  • Alert customer truck drivers to changes in traffic procedures, patterns, or road conditions.
  • Provide fall protection or safe means of access to customers who need to gain access to containers or tankers on their vehicles if there is danger of falling. 
  • Provide and maintain a safe location for drivers to tarp their loads.
  • Ensure customers follow proper loading and dumping procedures.

Click here for MSHA Alert (pdf).

Electric Arc Flash – Safety Alert

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In the last six months, 11 miners received injuries due to electric arc flashes.

Best Practices

  • Establish safe procedures before beginning work and discuss the plan with all miners involved in the task.
  • Electricians must know how to de-energize and disconnect electrical systems and equipment.
  • Use properly rated electrical meters and personal protective equipment, such as electrically rated gloves, insulated blankets or mats, and polycarbonate barriers.
  • Lock out and tag out circuits before working on electrical equipment.
    • Identify and control all hazardous energy sources before conducting any task.
    • Open the circuit breaker or load break switch to de-energize the incoming power cables or conductors.
    • Open the visual disconnect to confirm incoming power is off.
    • Lockout/Tagout the visual disconnect.
    • Ground the de-energized conductors.

Click here for MSHA Alert (pdf).

Final Rule and Plan Templates for Surface Mobile Equipment Safety

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This Final Rule became effective in January and will be enforced starting July 17, 2024. It requires all operators and many if not most contractors to:

  • develop a written Mobile Equipment Safety Program,
  • appoint at least one responsible person to evaluate and update the program at least once a year,
  • identify current and emerging technology that would be feasible to use,
  • and more.

The Final Rule is here, and templates and other resources here.

Safety in Cold Weather Alert

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Cold weather can cause cold stress, which can lead to hypothermia, frostbite, and other severe injuries, and illnesses.

Best Practices

  • Monitor your physical condition and that of your coworkers.
  • Wear appropriate clothing.
  • Wear clothing that allows a full range of motion necessary for the tasks of the work.
  • Move into warm locations during breaks.
  • Include chemical hot packs in your first aid kit.
  • Avoid touching cold metal surfaces with bare skin.

In addition, some portable heaters can emit deadly carbon monoxide (CO).  CO is odorless and colorless and can accumulate in confined spaces and enclosed areas such as the cabs of vehicles, work trailers, and unventilated areas.  Exposure to 200 parts per million of CO for 15 minutes can cause disorientation, unconsciousness and eventual death.

Best Practices

  • Maintenance of fuel-burning equipment and vehicles is crucial. Vehicle exhaust systems need to be regularly inspected for leaks or other damage.
  • Monitors and audible alarm systems should be in place wherever CO is a potential hazard. Use portable CO detectors as necessary.
  • Properly ventilate work areas. The ventilation system should be designed and maintained to remove contaminants from the mine atmosphere.
  • Maintain travelways and keep them free of ice and debris.

Click here for MSHA Alert.

MSHA Issues Heat Stress Alert (Again)

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It’s as regular as the seasons, HEAT, and as it arrives MSHA alerts us about related health issues. “Mining in hot work areas during summer can cause serious health issues for miners. Everyone needs to recognize the hazards of heat stress and mine operators should provide heat-stress recognition training, monitoring, and personal protective equipment,” says MSHA.

The latest alert contains advice on symptoms and what to do or NOT do to treat them. Most importantly it also says this about Preventing Heat Stress:

  • Provide cool drinking water near miners.
  • Encourage miners to drink a cup of water every 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Avoid drinks with caffeine and large amounts of sugar.
  • Use sunblockers, proper protective clothing and shade.
  • Use administrative controls to rotate miners on hot jobs.
  • Schedule heavy tasks during cooler times of the day.

Download the full alert (pdf) here.

Enclosed Cabs Health Alert

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Operator Booths, Control Rooms, Enclosed Cabs

A properly designed and maintained operator booth, control room, and enclosed cab can reduce miners’ exposure to respirable dust, including silica.

Best Practices

  • Use a filtration and pressurization system that allows filtered air to enter the enclosed area.
  • Replace worn seals/gaskets around doors and windows, and patch holes and cracks in doors and windows.
  • Keep enclosure interiors clean; remove floor heaters; and use rubber floor mats instead of carpeting.
  • Keep doors and windows closed.

Click here for: Enclosed Cab Health Alert in English (pdf), or in Spanish (pdf).