DOL OIG – In 32 Years MSHA Has Never Successfully Exercised Its Pattern of Violations Authority

Follow up to Mine Safety and Health Administration announces results of 5 months of impact inspections, this Audit Report: In 32 Years MSHA Has Never Successfully Exercised Its Pattern of Violations Authority, September 29, 2010

  • “MSHA has not successfully exercised its POV authority in 32 years. Administration of this authority has been hampered by a lack of leadership and priority in the Department across various administrations. MSHA took 13 years to finalize POV regulations. Those regulations created limitations on MSHA’s authority that were not present in the enabling legislation and made it difficult for MSHA to place mines on POV status. For the next 17 years, MSHA Districts performed POV analyses based on individual interpretations of requirements, but never put any mine operator on POV status. In 2007, MSHA attempted to implement a standardized method based on quantitative data for identifying potential POV mines. However, (a) the process was unreliable and (b) the criteria were complex and lacked a supportable rationale.”
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