Last year was the safest in U.S. mining history, with new data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) showing the lowest fatality and injury rates since calculation began in 1983.
The year was not without incidence: 20 miners died in on-the-job accidents in 2012, with at least one death of an Alabama coal miner attributed to the fault of the mining industry. Five contractors were killed at work, less than half of the 11 who were lost in 2011.
The 2012 total includes the Dec. 28 death of a coal miner at Choctaw Mine in Walker County, Ala., that was recently deemed chargeable to the mining industry. Five contractors died in mining accidents in 2012, compared to 11 in 2011, nearly half the lowest number ever recorded.
"While more needs to be done to protect the nation's miners, we are moving mine safety in the right direction. The actions undertaken by MSHA and the mining community were the key to the continuing improvements we saw in 2012," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. "All miners deserve the safest possible working conditions."
The fatality rate recorded in 2012 was .0159 deaths per 200,000 hours worked, the second-lowest number recorded, while the rate of reported injuries was 3.16 per 200,000 hours worked, a historic low number.
Compliance with the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 has helped reduce mining violations by 18 percent since 2010, the MSHA says. Citations and orders issued declined by 15 percent between 2011 and 2012.
U.S. mining fatalities were the highest in 1978, when more than 250 people lost due to working conditions. The number declines steeply after 1977, but spiked again to 200 in 1984. It again began a gradual decline, with no more than 100 employee fatalities recorded within the industry since 1992.
The number of U.S. mines decreased by 102 from 2011 to 2012. Production diminished by 77 million tons during the same time period. The number of coal miners decreased from a decade-long high of 143,437 in 2011 to 137,650 in 2012, but last year was the second-highest for any year since 1994.
In metal and nonmetal mining, the record-low fatality rate was .0079 deaths per 200,000 hours worked; the reported injury rate was 2.19 per 200,000 hours worked, also a record low.
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