July 23, 2024 - As part of the Biden-Harris administration's effort to protect workers, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has completed an extensive 12-month safety and health screening of mines nationwide, targeting chronic violators showing a disregard for miners' health and safety. 

According to a recent release, the MSHA review included more than one Pattern of Violations (POV) screening within a single year for the first time ever. The process identified mines with a high number of significant and substantial (S&S) violations and other compliance issues. An S&S violation is one that could significantly contribute to a safety or health hazard.

MSHA issues a POV notice to mines exhibiting a pattern of S&S violations. Mines receiving a POV notice must withdraw miners from affected areas if additional S&S violations occur, except for those needed to correct the identified issues. The POV notice is terminated if no withdrawal orders are issued within 90 days or if an MSHA inspection finds no S&S violations.

“A central tenet of a good job is a safe and healthy workplace,” MSHA Assistant Secretary Chris Williamson said in a statement. “The Biden-Harris administration will continue to use all the tools with which Congress empowered MSHA to protect the health and safety of the nation’s miners.”

For the enforcement period ending April 30, 2024, MSHA identified Mine No. 39 in McDowell County, West Virginia—operated by Twin State Mining Inc.—as meeting the initial POV criteria. However, after reviewing mitigating circumstances, MSHA determined that issuing a POV notice was not warranted.

The agency confirmed that POV notices issued in 2022 and 2023 to two other mines remain in effect. Atalco Gramercy LLC's Gramercy Operation in Gramercy, Louisiana, received a notice on July 6, 2023, due to S&S violations related to caustic spills and leaks. Morton Salt Inc.'s Weeks Island Mine and Mill in New Iberia, Louisiana, received a notice on December 1, 2022, for roof and rib hazards.

To help mine operators monitor compliance and identify when corrective actions are needed, MSHA offers the Pattern of Violations Calculator and the Significant and Substantial Calculator.