Main has committed to work with Tomblin to prevent further deaths.

“[Tuesday], the coal industry marked its sixth mining fatality in less than one month [and] four of those deaths occurred in West Virginia,” he said late Wednesday.

“Starting Thursday morning, MSHA inspectors, supervisors and managers will travel to coal operations throughout the state to alert miners, mine operators and miners’ representatives about this alarming trend. Our enforcement personnel will be armed with detailed handouts and will talk directly to mine operators and miners, reminding them about the critical need for safe work practices.”

Main did not issue any inspection or safety enforcements, but said additional inspectors would be sent to the Appalachian state to aid in safety talks being coordinated by West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training officials.

“Mine operators need to make sure they are conducting proper mine safety examinations to find and fix hazards, and they need to make sure that miners are properly trained to do the jobs they are assigned, particularly activities not part of their normal routine,” he said.

Main also pledged action in the wake of the deaths.

“The industry is coming off two of the safest years in mining in this country,” he said.

“The six deaths that occurred over the past month are tragic and unacceptable, and MSHA will take whatever actions are necessary to ensure the safety and well-being of all our miners.”

One operator with strong ties to the Appalachian region and West Virginia, Consol Energy, also supported Tomblin and confirmed it would begin convening safety awareness meetings.

It also stressed the critical importance of consistent communication regarding proper safety measures prior to every shift change.

“Even though we continue to reach important milestones and demonstrate continuous improvement in our overall safety performance, we have asked our employees to rededicate themselves to our goal of Absolute Zero and to use these recent incidents to refocus their attention on doing their jobs safely every single day,” company officials told ILN.

“We do not accept these setbacks as the norm and have empowered our employees to do everything possible to ensure that we are correcting the conditions and attitudes that lead to such tragic outcomes.”

One of the six miners killed to date was working at its Loveridge mine in northern West Virginia in an incident it is still reviewing.

“Consol Energy continues to work with federal and state agencies to investigate the cause of last week’s accident and to identify precautions and procedures that we can implement to prevent similar events from occurring again,” a company spokeswoman said.