The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has announced the winners of the Nationwide Coal Mine Rescue Skills Championship, hosted by the Mining Technology and Training Center, which took place recently in Prosperity, Pennsylvania.

An impact inspection at the Rhino Eastern LLC's Eagle Mine 3 in Wyoming County, West Virginia, found conditions that put miners at risk of developing black lung disease and that increased the potential for deadly explosions, underscoring the importance of mine safety vigilance and the need for continued improvements in controlling coal dust.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) says the 155 citations and two orders issued by federal inspectors during last month's special impact inspections represent the lowest number of orders issued during targeted monthly inspections over nearly three years.

Combustible dust, mine safety and silica are some of the subject of bills that are currently making their way through – or are stuck in – the legislative and regulatory pipelines. Aaron Trippler, Government Affairs Director for the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), provides a rundown in his “Happenings on the Hill:”