Annual report of the Secretary of Labor under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, fiscal year 1979. Volume 1

Technical Report · Fri Sep 04 00:00:00 EDT 1981

OSTI ID:5842796

Fiscal year 1979 was the Mine Safety and Health Administrations' first full year of operation under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. This legislation had taken effect during the previous fiscal year, on March 9, 1978. It moved the Federal mine safety and health enforcement agency from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Labor, established its present name, and substantially broadened its role. The 1979 fiscal year saw the agency complete and consolidate many changes which the new law made necessary and which had begun during the previous year. The 1977 Act repealed the earlier Federal Metal and Nonmetallic Mine Safety Act of 1966 and amended the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 to bring metal and nonmetal (non-coal) mines under its more comprehensive provisions. As a result, four complete annual inspections became mandatory for all underground mines, coal and non-coal alike. The law also introduced a requirement of two complete annual inspections for all surface mines. Metal and nonmetal mines became subject to mandatory civil dollar penalties for violations of federal safety and health regulations, as had previously been the case in coal mining. To meet the new Act's increased inspection requirements, MSHA hired more than 300 new metal and nonmetal mine inspectors, virtually all of whom completed their training during the 1979 fiscal year. As a result, MSHA conducted nearly 50 percent more complete mandatory inspections at metal and nonmetal mines than in the previous fiscal year. Through special enforcement programs, MSHA continued to focus enforcement resources on mines with the greatest need for attention. Individual inspectors were assigned full-time to especially large, complex coal mines and to coal mines with high accident rates, poor compliance records and weak safety management systems.

• Research Organization: Department of Labor, Washington, DC (USA); Mine Safety and Health Administration, Arlington, VA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5842796
• Report Number(s): NP-3902702; ON: DE83902702
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
COAL MINERS
ACCIDENTS
INJURIES
TRAINING
MINING LAWS
COMPLIANCE
ENFORCEMENT
US MSHA
INSPECTION
REGULATIONS
COAL MINING
DUSTS
HEALTH HAZARDS
NUMERICAL DATA
PNEUMOCONIOSES
SAFETY
US DOL
DATA
DISEASES
HAZARDS
INFORMATION
LAWS
MINERS
MINING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PERSONNEL
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DISEASES
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
012000* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Mining
016000 - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Health & Safety
017000 - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Legislation & Regulations