The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has launched its annual "Winter Alert" campaign to call attention to the numerous hazards colder weather typically brings to mining operations around the nation.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration has awarded $1,250,000 in grants through its Brookwood-Sago program to seven organizations that provide education and training within the mining industry.

A couple of points stand out in in a blog post this week written by Joseph Main, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration's final rule "Examinations of Work Areas in Underground Coal Mines for Violations of Mandatory Health or Safety Standards," goes into effect tomorrow.

Despite a number of challenges confronting the mining industry over the past two and a half years, including the worst coal mine disaster in four decades, the actions being taken by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and many in the industry are moving mine safety and health in the right direction, according to MSHA head Joseph A. Main, who spoke recently at Pennsylvania State University's Miner Training Program.

More mine operators are taking responsibility for their workers' safety and health, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), which said both metal and nonmetal mines have shown improvements.

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health Joseph Main gave the mining industry credit for its role in the overall improvement in the compliance level at mines across the country, but said bringing all mines into compliance should be the goal of the entire industry.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has placed Dennis Creg Yonts' Mine No. 2 in Letcher County, Ky., operated by Vision Coal, on potential pattern of violations status based on data gathered during agency audits.