In news from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the agency announced earlier this month that 10 mine operators have received letters putting them on notice of a potential pattern of violations of MSHA standards. Written notice is sent to mine operators with a potential pattern of recurrent significant and substantial (S&S) violations. An S&S violation is one that could reasonably be expected to lead to a serious injury or illness, according to MSHA. An operator who receives one has an opportunity to review and comment on the documents and develop a corrective action plan to reverse the potential patterns.

MSHA says it plans to closely monitor each affected mine's compliance record while conducting a complete inspection at each site over the next 90 days. If an operator significantly reduces its violation frequency rate, it can avoid a Notice of a Pattern of Violations. For each violation found after such a notice is issued, MSHA will order withdrawal of miners from the affected areas until the problem is corrected.

More information, including the list of notified mines, is available at the agency website, http://www.msha.gov.

In other news, MSHA has allocated more than $8.3 million in health and safety training grants for fiscal year 2009, up slightly from $8.2 million in grants awarded last year. The funds cover training and retraining of miners working at surface and underground coal, metal, and nonmetal mines. MSHA grants were awarded to 47 states and the Navajo Nation. The states of Rhode Island and Connecticut received joint funding, as did Delaware and Pennsylvania.