While we await the nomination of an assistant secretary to lead the Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA), the agency is not delaying its newest rulemaking effort and accompanying enforcement initiative.
While not unheard of, it is uncommon for an incoming administration to continue the rulemaking efforts of prior leadership. This is the situation MSHA currently finds itself in, though, as it pushes forward on a proposed rule for surface mobile equipment safety programs.
The proposed rule targets powered haulage equipment and operations, with the exception of belt conveyors. As outlined in the rule description on the Office of Management & Budget website: “MSHA will issue a proposed rule to establish a written safety program for mobile equipment and powered haulage equipment (except belt conveyors) used at surface mine and surface areas of underground mines. … The operators would have flexibility to develop and implement a safety program that would work best for their mining conditions and operations.”
The Trump administration and later MSHA assistant secretary David Zatezalo initiated the rulemaking process in 2018. Following a series of stakeholder meetings and the release of the now-annual powered haulage safety initiatives, MSHA went relatively silent on the rulemaking front until 2020.
As the election year wore on, stakeholders were teased with the release of a proposed powered haulage rule, but it never came. Now, nearly eight months into the Biden administration, stakeholders are once again awaiting publication of a proposed rule.
While it is not known what will be included, we do know the rule will not apply to belt conveyor systems, directing focus on mobile equipment and associated practices and programs. To get a better understanding of what that may look like, we can explore MSHA’s recent enforcement initiative and guidance.
MSHA announced that June 20 was a “Stand Down for Safety Day” regarding powered haulage. As part of this, MSHA personnel visited mines to discuss powered haulage safety, and operators were encouraged to pause and do the same. This roughly coordinated with the announcement of new guidance and a renewed enforcement initiative on powered haulage.
Areas to emphasize
According to MSHA, powered haulage continues to be a leading cause of accidents. Enforcement personnel will focus on the following areas when on site and, in all likelihood, issue more citations and orders.
1. Communication and training for equipment operation and traffic.
Traffic patterns are specifically required to be covered in a general sense on site-specific hazard awareness training for every person entering a mine site, but this is especially true for those operating mobile equipment – including effective means of communication through signage, hand signals or radio communication.
2. Seat belts. Every mine should have a policy mandating the use of seat belts while operating or riding in mobile equipment. Still, simply having a policy is not sufficient, as operators must consistently remind and retrain miners on the importance of wearing seat belts. Operators must also take action when miners are observed not wearing one.
3. Dump site inspections and practice. Extremely active areas at most mine sites, dump sites are generally the location of many powered haulage incidents.
4. Conveyor belts. While the new rulemaking will exclude belt conveyors, the guidance did not and MSHA’s enforcement will not. Guarding has long been one of MSHA’s most cited standards on an annual basis, and it will likely continue to be a focus.
All of these areas are likely already a significant focus of every mine’s safety programs. But with MSHA marshaling greater enforcement resources and inspector focus on the topic, operators should take the time to reevaluate their practices.
Nick Scala is an MSHA/OSHA workplace safety partner at Conn Maciel Carey LLP, and chair of the firm’s National MSHA Practice Group. He can be reached at nscala@connmaciel.com.