Here’s A Story About An Operator Who Called Local Law Enforcement On A Field Office Supervisor Who Refused To Present His Credentials. By Brian Hendrix A reader in the industry recently asked me for my take on his practice of asking MSHA inspectors for their credentials. He explained that he asks for an inspector’s credentials, either an authorized representative (AR)…
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MSHA Tackles Social Media
Right Now, MSHA Isn’t Reaching Many People Via Social Media In Any Category, And I Doubt That’ll Change Anytime Soon. By Brian Hendrix Do you follow MSHA on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter? Are you Facebook friends with MSHA? Have you downloaded MSHA’s “Miner Safety and Health App”? If you answered “yes” to any of those…
Read More‘Removed From Service’ or ‘Available For Use’
Here Are Some Suggestions Aimed At Reducing Your Liability In These Two Situations. By Brian Hendrix An “evergreen” issue is one that comes up repeatedly and remains relevant over time. Here’s a great example: MSHA inspects a piece of mobile equipment that’s parked on the ready line, but not in service. It has not been examined by the operator. Let’s…
Read MoreThe Mine Silica Health Administration
It Looks Like MSHA Started With The OSHA Rule And Proceeded To Cut Everything That Looked Even Remotely Reasonable. By Brian Hendrix Way back in 2019, we heard that MSHA intended to put the “H” back in MSHA. MSHA Assistant Secretary David Zatezalo, told Congress that MSHA would to “put the ‘H’ back in ‘MSHA,’” by “aggressively enforc[ing] existing standards…
Read MoreBig Ridge’s 10-Year Anniversary
MSHA’s Authority Under Big Ridge Is Broad, But It’s Not Unlimited. We all know that MSHA possesses a tremendous amount of enforcement authority. For example, an MSHA inspector does not need a warrant to enter and inspect a mine at any time and without any advance notice. With the stroke of a pen, an MSHA inspector may order a mine…
Read MoreMSHA’S Jurisdiction Over Borrow Pits
Does MSHA Really Have Jurisdiction Here? It Depends. By Brian Hendrix Once or twice a year, I receive a call from a company asking me some variation of this question: Does MSHA really have jurisdiction here? The “here” part of the question differs from call-to-call. It may be a maintenance shop located miles away from any mine, a facility that…
Read MoreIs MSHA Prepared to Enforce a New Silica Rule?
For A Host Of Different Reasons, It’s Not, But That Doesn’t Mean They Won’t Put It Out. By Brian Hendrix Any day now, MSHA will release its new proposed respirable silica rule. If the proposed rule makes it through the rulemaking gauntlet, is finalized and survives a legal challenge(s), MSHA’s approach to silica enforcement will change. It will almost certainly…
Read MoreNLRB’s New Take on Electronic Surveillance of Employees
Is Electronic Surveillance Of Employees Impairing Employees’ Ability To Engage In Protected Activity? By Brian Hendrix and Terry Potter In 2022, unions represented just 6.8% of employees in private industry. Organized labor’s share of the workforce in the “mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction” category was only slightly higher at 7.7%. Even in coal, unions only represent roughly 15%…
Read More2022 Was A Better Year
The Promise and Limitations of Data on Mine Safety and Health. By Brian Hendrix While I wouldn’t describe 2022 as a great year for the mining industry, it beat 2021 in a number of important ways. First, we put another year between us and the pandemic. Time heals all, I hope, so I’ll put that in the win column. Second,…
Read MoreWhat Is MSHA Doing With The Silica Rule?
MSHA Must Continue To Recognize Engineering Controls As The Primary Means To Eliminate Respirable Dust Within The Mine Atmosphere And Achieve Compliance. By Brian Hendrix Just a few days after the midterm elections in 2022, Sen. Joe Manchin and four of his colleagues in the Senate sent a letter to MSHA Assistant Secretary Chris Williamson to “formally request additional information…
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