Main was on hand for the Central Appalachian Regional Work Safety and Health Symposium in Lexington, Kentucky.

He was comparing figures from four decades ago – when a miner was killed every day – to last year, when the nation’s industry recorded 36 total deaths and 20 in coal.

“And for those who say we can’t have fatal free industry, I’ll say this … the folks sitting in these rooms in 1977 was looking at the number of deaths to get to zero, starting at 273,” Main said.

“The distance we have to go is far less than what they had to go.”

So far in 2013, the industry has recorded 23 overall deaths. Coal miners account for 13 of those fatalities. Two of those killed were Kentucky miners.

Main said the equal enforcement of mine safety regulations was part of what could help to reduce mining fatalities going forward.

He said consistent enforcement was critical.

“When I arrived at MSHA, there were a number of complaints about consistency of our enforcement and one of the things that we did fairly quickly was to implement a new training program for field office supervisors,” Main said.

He said mine safety had been improving since his tenure started.

In fact, there has been an 18% improvement in regulatory compliance over the past two years.