The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) conducted an impact inspection at a Kentucky mine and found nine significant and substantial violations and two unwarrantable safety failures.
Violations at the Excel #5 Mine – an underground coal mine in Varney, Kentucky – included failure to remove accumulations of combustible material and inadequate workplace examinations.
The mine was among the 16 mines MSHA chose for impact inspections in December 2023. All of the mines were chosen based on their prior enforcement histories.
Significant and substantial, or S&S, violations are considered “reasonably likely to cause a reasonably serious injury or illness.” Violations designated as unwarrantable failures are “aggravated conduct that constitutes more than ordinary negligence.”
MSHA inspectors found the following violations at the Excel #5 Mine:
- failure to remove accumulations of combustible material, which exposed miners to explosion hazards due to exposed ignition sources
- failure to maintain equipment in permissible condition, which exposed miners to explosion hazards from exposed ignition sources, and
- inadequate workplace examinations, a violation that contributed to several fatal mine incidents and disabling injuries in 2023.
Other serious violations included not adequately supporting the mine’s roof and ribs and inoperable fire warning devices.
247 violations found during December 2023 impact inspections
MSHA’s 2023 impact inspections identified 2,739 violations, including 764 S&S and 56 unwarrantable failure findings by December 2023.
Impact inspections are conducted “at mines that merit increased agency attention and enforcement due to poor compliance history; previous accidents, injuries, and illnesses; and other compliance concerns.”
Out of 247 violations identified in December, 57 were considered S&S and three were unwarrantable failures. December’s impact inspections were conducted at mines in Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
