12/6/2014
US Celebrates National Miners Day
By Joe Main
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor
for Mine Safety & Health
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- December 6 is National Miners Day, designated by Congress to honor the contributions and sacrifices of miners both past and present. At the Mine Safety and Health Administration, we take this day to heart – and not only for the obvious professional reasons.
Many of us at this agency have a personal connection to miners and mining through family, friends and our own experiences. We may have worked in the mines ourselves, as I did starting as an 18-year-old in the northern West Virginia coal fields. Others proudly point to relatives who made their livings and raised their families by extracting minerals from the ground. Nearly all of the hundreds of MSHA inspectors who work across the country came to us with mining experience, and they talk with miners nearly every day.
The date for National Miners Day was selected to commemorate the worst industrial accident in American history: On Dec. 6, 1907, 362 miners perished in an explosion at the No. 6 and No. 8 mines in Monongah, West Virginia. Although mine safety has vastly improved since then, sadly, many of us have seen the consequences of continuing sacrifices made by miners and their families. But we also have seen the progress of safety and health moving forward– and we share the pride of miners and the mining industry who have worked to make these steady and important improvements.
This year, leading up to National Miners Day, I had the privilege of spending some quality time with working miners during a number of mine visits at aggregate, stone and coal mines – including two just this week. One was at the Alpha Natural Resources-owned Cumberland coal mine in Greene County, Pennsylvania with our Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez.
Secretary Perez had the opportunity to spend time at the mine and to hear what I have long known is true – how proud these miners are of the occupation they chose. He heard about the importance of safety, miners’ voice in the workplace, and actions and innovations that are making mines safer and healthier.
These trips to our nation’s mines remind us not only of who miners are but what they mean to our country.
Most Americans might not realize it but, as we show in our 2014 National Miners Day video, miners touch all of our lives in many ways. Approximately 375,000 miners working in the United States today extract nearly 100 different kinds of minerals from the earth, including coal, gold, copper, silver, granite, limestone, granite, salt, gravel and many more.
Coal generates heat and electricity for our homes, businesses and communities. Miners produce the gravel, crushed stone, tar, asphalt, road salt and cement used to build the nation’s highways. The bridges that span canyons and rivers are built with ores, rock and minerals produced by miners. Gold, silver and copper wiring, ceramic insulators, and memory chips are essential components in electronics that we use daily, such as smartphones, computers and televisions. Thousands of everyday consumer goods are made with the fundamental materials secured from the mined materials. They range from cosmetics to toothpaste, from cookware and dinnerware to appliances.
Miners and mining are vital to our economy. But even more, they are a key part of our nation’s identity, representing fortitude, determination and spirit.
At MSHA we know our mission is to do all that we can to see that those who choose the occupation of miner have the opportunity to go to work, put in their shift and return home each and every day safe and healthy.
Each day, working with the mining community, we look at ways to make mining safer and healthier, improving the culture and raising the standards. Recent efforts by MSHA to protect miners’ health and safety include implementation of the new respirable coal dust rule aimed at preventing black lung disease, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives. The first phase of the new rule has been highly successful thanks to collaboration between MSHA and industry. Outreach initiatives with our stakeholders – such as fall protection, guarding and ladder safety for metal and nonmetal mines – have been highly successful as well.
We take our enforcement responsibilities very seriously as we check the nation’s mines for compliance with safety and health standards designed to protect miners. Enhanced enforcement activities such as monthly impact inspections and the pattern of violations program, along with protecting miners’ voices in the workplace, have led to improved compliance. MSHA’s actions, along with the efforts of miners and mine operators, have helped usher in an improved culture of safety in mining.
On this National Miners Day, we at MSHA salute the men and women who have chosen the occupation of mining. We rededicate ourselves to our core mission — doing all that we can to protect from injury, illness and death the mining industry’s most precious resource, the nation’s miners.
Joseph A. Main is the U.S. Department of Labor’s Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health.
source
US Celebrates National Miners Day
By Joe MainU.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor
for Mine Safety & Health
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- December 6 is National Miners Day, designated by Congress to honor the contributions and sacrifices of miners both past and present. At the Mine Safety and Health Administration, we take this day to heart – and not only for the obvious professional reasons.
Many of us at this agency have a personal connection to miners and mining through family, friends and our own experiences. We may have worked in the mines ourselves, as I did starting as an 18-year-old in the northern West Virginia coal fields. Others proudly point to relatives who made their livings and raised their families by extracting minerals from the ground. Nearly all of the hundreds of MSHA inspectors who work across the country came to us with mining experience, and they talk with miners nearly every day.
The date for National Miners Day was selected to commemorate the worst industrial accident in American history: On Dec. 6, 1907, 362 miners perished in an explosion at the No. 6 and No. 8 mines in Monongah, West Virginia. Although mine safety has vastly improved since then, sadly, many of us have seen the consequences of continuing sacrifices made by miners and their families. But we also have seen the progress of safety and health moving forward– and we share the pride of miners and the mining industry who have worked to make these steady and important improvements.
This year, leading up to National Miners Day, I had the privilege of spending some quality time with working miners during a number of mine visits at aggregate, stone and coal mines – including two just this week. One was at the Alpha Natural Resources-owned Cumberland coal mine in Greene County, Pennsylvania with our Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez.
Secretary Perez had the opportunity to spend time at the mine and to hear what I have long known is true – how proud these miners are of the occupation they chose. He heard about the importance of safety, miners’ voice in the workplace, and actions and innovations that are making mines safer and healthier.
These trips to our nation’s mines remind us not only of who miners are but what they mean to our country.
Most Americans might not realize it but, as we show in our 2014 National Miners Day video, miners touch all of our lives in many ways. Approximately 375,000 miners working in the United States today extract nearly 100 different kinds of minerals from the earth, including coal, gold, copper, silver, granite, limestone, granite, salt, gravel and many more.
Coal generates heat and electricity for our homes, businesses and communities. Miners produce the gravel, crushed stone, tar, asphalt, road salt and cement used to build the nation’s highways. The bridges that span canyons and rivers are built with ores, rock and minerals produced by miners. Gold, silver and copper wiring, ceramic insulators, and memory chips are essential components in electronics that we use daily, such as smartphones, computers and televisions. Thousands of everyday consumer goods are made with the fundamental materials secured from the mined materials. They range from cosmetics to toothpaste, from cookware and dinnerware to appliances.
Miners and mining are vital to our economy. But even more, they are a key part of our nation’s identity, representing fortitude, determination and spirit.
At MSHA we know our mission is to do all that we can to see that those who choose the occupation of miner have the opportunity to go to work, put in their shift and return home each and every day safe and healthy.
Each day, working with the mining community, we look at ways to make mining safer and healthier, improving the culture and raising the standards. Recent efforts by MSHA to protect miners’ health and safety include implementation of the new respirable coal dust rule aimed at preventing black lung disease, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives. The first phase of the new rule has been highly successful thanks to collaboration between MSHA and industry. Outreach initiatives with our stakeholders – such as fall protection, guarding and ladder safety for metal and nonmetal mines – have been highly successful as well.
We take our enforcement responsibilities very seriously as we check the nation’s mines for compliance with safety and health standards designed to protect miners. Enhanced enforcement activities such as monthly impact inspections and the pattern of violations program, along with protecting miners’ voices in the workplace, have led to improved compliance. MSHA’s actions, along with the efforts of miners and mine operators, have helped usher in an improved culture of safety in mining.
On this National Miners Day, we at MSHA salute the men and women who have chosen the occupation of mining. We rededicate ourselves to our core mission — doing all that we can to protect from injury, illness and death the mining industry’s most precious resource, the nation’s miners.
Joseph A. Main is the U.S. Department of Labor’s Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health.
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