MSHA said all 100 recommendations had been met on time, including the revision or development of more than 40 policy directives that included a significant revision of MSHA’s mine inspection procedure handbook and creation of a coal roof control handbook for its staff.
The agency also held more than 20 separate training sessions on issues raised by the internal review and created a centralised system for better oversight of all agency directives and policy guidance.
MSHA modified its mine plan approval database system, integrated a common tracking system to track inspector re-training and established a national mine rescue organisation to help support and guide the mine rescue community.
The federal office began posting quarterly updates on its progress with putting corrective actions into place but noted that it did not wait for the internal review board to publish findings before putting numerous administrative, organisational and regulatory reforms into effect immediately after the April 2010 UBB blast.
For example, in the wake of the explosion that killed 29 workers, MSHA made reforms to its enhanced enforcement programs including impact inspections and a revised pattern of violations process.
It also split a large district in southern West Virginia into two separate districts, creating District 12, and upgraded its lab in Mt Hope, West Virginia, for better coal dust and gas analyses.
The Office of Assessments, Accountability, Special Enforcement and Investigations was reorganised and MSHA also published final regulations on the maintenance of rock dust, underground mine exams and its POV program.
“The internal review was designed to identify shortcomings so that we, as an agency, could take necessary actions to improve mine safety and health,” MSHA assistant secretary of labour Joseph Main said.
“The result was one of the most comprehensive internal reviews in MSHA history and the most extensive improvements at the agency in decades.”
He noted that meeting its own self-imposed timelines was a major challenge in the process.
This became even more significant during the government sequestration and a 16-day government shutdown in October 2013.
“MSHA was able to maintain the schedule throughout the process and finish corrective actions on time, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our employees,” Main said.
MSHA said it had worked hard with the mining community to make safety improvements in the years since UBB.
Main said among the milestones were a substantial reduction in mines with chronic violation record, a record number of temporary reinstatements and discrimination cases filed on behalf of miners and reduced respirable dust levels to lowest exposure levels in history.
The nation’s coal mines also had the lowest fatal and injury rates in 2011 and again in 2012, while the mining community had its lowest fatal and injury rates and number of mining deaths ever recorded in a fiscal year.
“The Upper Big Branch tragedy unquestionably shook the very foundation of mine safety,” Main said.
“It caused us to re-double our efforts to instil a culture of prevention in mining.
“These corrective actions are part of MSHA's ongoing efforts to improve health and safety conditions in the nation's mines so that miners can go to work, do their jobs and return home to their loved ones safe and healthy at the end of every shift.”
MSHA has published a list of its corrective actions at the Upper Big Branch mine, which can be found at http://www.msha.gov/PerformanceCoal/UBBInternalReview/UBBCorrectiveActions.asp target=_blank>www.msha.gov/PerformanceCoal/UBBInternalReview/UBBCorrectiveActions.asp.
