MSHA Identifies 239 Violations During Impact Inspections in July 2024

MSHA Identifies 239 Violations During Impact Inspections in July 2024

The agency inspected 16 mines, identifying 70 significant and substantial violations as well as 11 unwarrantable failures.

  • By Robert Yaniz Jr.
  • Sep 05, 2024

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) concluded a series of inspections in July 2024, targeting 16 mines across 10 states with a total of 239 violations, including 70 significant and substantial (S&S) violations and three unwarrantable failure findings.

According to a recent release, these impact inspections were introduced after the 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine explosion in West Virginia, which claimed 29 lives. Since 2023, the agency has identified 4,314 violations, including 1,189 S&S violations and 82 unwarrantable failure findings. An S&S violation is one that could significantly contribute to a safety or health hazard, while unwarrantable failure findings indicate aggravated conduct beyond ordinary negligence.

Impact inspections focus on mines with poor compliance histories, previous accidents and other compliance concerns. In July 2024, inspections were conducted in Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

“July impact inspections resulted in a troubling number of unwarrantable failure findings, representing serious safety and health hazards that operators knew put miners at risk and should have corrected,” said Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Chris Williamson. “Impact inspections remain an important tool to hold operators accountable and eliminate hazards such as combustible materials near belts, hazards that history shows can unfortunately cause mine fires and lost lives.”

MSHA’s monthly impact inspections results, including those for July 2024, are available online.

About the Author

Robert Yaniz Jr. is the Content Editor of Occupational Health & Safety.

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