A federal district court judge in Ohio granted yesterday a joint request by industry plaintiffs and MSHA to put on hold their pending litigation over the validity of the agency’s 2013 Pattern of Violations (“POV”) rule while the parties explore settlement. The POV rule is MSHA’s harshest enforcement mechanism.

Yesterday afternoon, the Senate voted to confirm Alexander Acosta as the 27th U.S. Secretary of Labor by a vote of 60 to 38. Mr. Acosta is the final appointee to complete the confirmation process and is currently the only Latino in President Trump’s cabinet.

by Erik Dullea and Sonia Anderson

Department of Labor press releases issued during April suggest that DOL, including OSHA and MSHA, may have returned to the aggressive public relations strategy of calling out companies by name, which was utilized during the previous administration.  Former head of OSHA, Dr. David Michaels, reportedly called this strategy “regulation by shaming.”

Ever heard that problem-solving in mining often starts (and ends) with the use of a bigger hammer or the application of more powder?  I have.  If there was a miner’s creed, I’d expect it to include “hit it harder or shoot it down.”