MSHA Issues Safety Alert Following Deaths of 10 Miners in Early 2025

The Mine Safety and Health Administration urges the industry to focus on identifying and eliminating health and safety hazards following a period of increased fatalities among miners. According to MSHA, 10 miners were killed on the job between Jan. 3 and March 5 this year, “more than triple the number for the same period in 2024.” Of the 10 fatalities, four involved failures of ground or coal rib conditions, four had to do with improper maintenance or unsafe operation of equipment, one involved explosives, and the last resulted from not locking and tagging out equipment. A new safety alert published by MSHA states that effective safety and health programs can help prevent such fatalities. The alert reminds mine operators and others to conduct examinations before working or traveling near ribs and highwalls, operate and maintain equipment according to manufacturers’ instructions, and train miners in hazard identification and safe maintenance and repair procedures.

The most common cause of fatal accidents in mining is powered haulage, which includes equipment like motors and rail cars, conveyors, and front-end loaders, MSHA says. These accidents are caused by the motion of a haulage unit.

MSHA’s safety alert is available from the agency website.