Out of the blue, MSHA cites an operator, claiming that the operator should have known that a condition or practice violated a standard.  MSHA itself—dozens of different inspectors and their supervisors—was unquestionably aware of the condition or practice for years or decades.  Now, the alleged violation must be abated.  Abatement will require significant changes, e.g. changes to the ventilation system, mine plan or to the type or equipment used at the mine.

Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta announced today that he is appointing Wayne Palmer to serve as the acting head of MSHA. Palmer will serve as MSHA’s deputy assistant secretary on an ongoing basis and will be the acting head of the agency until a permanent assistant secretary is nominated and confirmed.

MSHA will propose as yet undefined changes to the Workplace Exam Rule amendments adopted on Jan 23, 2017, that require exams prior to work, new records, and communication of exam results. We also expect MSHA will soon issue a further extension of the new rule’s current Oct, 2017 effective date.  In the interim, the industry…

by Kaileigh Fagan

As we continue steaming into the end of summer, here is part two of our summer safety series. With summer temperatures still affecting many parts of the country, it is important to remember OSHA’s guidance on protecting workers from the dangerous effects of extreme heat.

Even without a new Assistant Secretary for OSHA, the Trump Administration has recently deleted numerous Obama-era OSHA plans for workplace safety related rules.  Rules that administration officials have said they plan to overhaul or scale back include: regulations strengthening limits to exposure to beryllium, addressing workplace safety violation in healthcare, and addressing combustible dust and…

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that MSHA could demand a miners’ personnel records to assist an investigation into a worker’s discrimination complaint. In Hopkins Coal, an operator refused to provide personnel records to an MSHA investigator on the grounds the agency had not identified any protected activity the miner engaged in.…