Mine-safety citations are up by one-third in four years, after more inspectors were put on the job

Citations for violations of mine safety and health laws are up by almost one-third since 2006 with most citations being focused on fire and coal dust issues, ventilation problems or electrical issues, National Public Radio reports. Its "analysis of nearly 80,000 citations written last year found that an accumulation of combustible coal dust was the most frequently cited violation overall, accounting for more than one in 10 citations," Robert Benincasa reports.

"Most of our major disasters since 2001 have been related to mine ventilation and accumulations of explosive dust in the mine and problems that could be triggered by an electrical malfunction," Jack Spadaro, a mining engineer and former head of the National Mine Safety and Health Academy, told NPR. "So, I think it's reasonable to expect that the numbers of citations in those areas would be substantial, and about the same." Noting the recent disaster in West Virginia, Spadaro said increased enforcement won't matter until the Mine Safety and Health Administration uses its authority to close mines. "The agency already has the authority to close a mine or a section of mine for imminent harm," he told NPR. "The management of the agency needs to make it clear to the inspectors that they have that authority, and they haven't done that." Last year federal inspectors spent 180 days at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine, where 29 miners were killed in an April explosion.

MSHA ratcheted up its approach to inspections after 14 West Virginia mining deaths in two separate incidents in early 2006. MSHA hired 270 new mine inspectors in the year after the two disasters. "That's when they started emphasizing more the ventilation plans that each company files with MSHA," Bruce Dial, a mining safety consultant and former mine inspector, told Benincasa. "So that's why the number of citations has gone up rather significantly." But even as the number of inspections has gone up, a "Department of Labor audit released in March 2010 found several problems with the way MSHA trains inspectors — including a charge that some mine inspectors were not getting adequate training," Benincasa reports. (Read more)