A record-low 24 deaths led FY2016 to be the “safest year in mining history” says data published by the MSHA. Mining deaths decreased by nearly 37% from FY2015’s 38 fatalities, MSHA says.
Coal-mining contributed to eight of FY2016’s fatalities. The other two-thirds of the fatalities occurred in metal and non-metal mining, DOL data shows.
A 133-day fatality-free stretch in metal and non-metal mining occurred at the start of FY16, which ran from Oct. 1, 2015 (traditionally mining’s “deadliest” month) to Sept. 30, 2016. The fiscal year ended in September with four fatalities.
“We are eroding the gains we have made on behalf of our nation’s miners,” Assistant Secretary of Labor Joseph A. Main said at the Training Resources Applied to Mining Conference in October. “Eliminating mining deaths and reducing injuries and illnesses is a goal that must be shared by all of us. We can–and must–strive to reach zero mining deaths.”
Read the rest of this article on the American Society of Safety Engineers’ website.
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