New Online Tool to Help the Mining Industry
The Mine Safety and Health Administration introduces a tool that lets mine operators know when they're successfully reducing violations.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration department has created the S&S Calculator, an online tool that will assist mine operators. According to an article from DOL's blog, the tool will help mine operators determine whether their mines are reducing the number of their significant and substantial (S&S) violations.
The corrective action program works through an online calculator, which is an enhancement of MSHA's Pattern of Violations Monitoring Tool, a tool that allows mine operators and miners to measure a mine's performance. The calculator can determine a mine's rate of S&S violations just by entering the mine's 7-digit ID.
Mine operators have to track their violation and injury history, comply with mine safety laws, and protect their miners. An S&S violation is one that "significantly and substantially" contributes to the cause and/or effect of a coal or mine safety hazard. In January 2013, MSHA issued a rule that mine operators who are approaching POV (pattern of violations) status must implement a corrective action program, and this application will allow them to more easily do so.
For more information, visit http://social.dol.gov/blog/new-online-tracking-tool-to-aid-mining-industry/.