Safety Alert Urges Mines to Improve Fall Protection

The Mine Safety and Health Administration urges the industry to focus on fall prevention and protection after three miners were seriously injured in falls from heights in the first months of 2025. One of the miners fell from the deck of a bulldozer, and another fell 14 feet from the second level of a structure. MSHA did not describe the circumstances of the third miner’s fall.

In a new safety alert, the agency outlines best practices for protecting miners from falls. For example, mine operators and others should establish effective fall prevention and protection programs, maintain safe access to all working places, and ensure that miners wear slip-resistant footwear. Another way to help prevent falls is to install warning signals and barricades for openings located above, below, or near areas where workers or materials may fall.

MSHA’s alert compares the number of injuries so far this year to some fall statistics from the period 2022–2024, during which seven miners died from falls. According to the agency, MSHA issued 767 violations citing fall protection standards over those three years, 228 of which were issued in conjunction with Section 107(a) orders, which are intended to “immediately remove miners from exposure to serious hazards and to prevent miners from entering such hazardous areas” (PDF).

MSHA encourages individuals to visit OSHA’s website for additional information and fall protection resources. The safety alert is available on MSHA’s website.

Related: OSHA’s fall protection standard has been among the most cited for years. An article published in the January 2024 issue of The Synergist examines why the agency’s top 10 citations are almost always the same.