While in law school McAteer conducted a study on the safety of West Virginia mines after the Farmington Mine disaster on November 1968 . The findings of his study led to the first Mine Health and Safety Act in 1969 . This Act led to the creation of MSHA and also provided compensation to miners completely disabled by black lung disease . The findings of the study were also published under the name " Coal Mine Health and Safety : The Case of West Virginia " In 1972 McAteer greatly improved the United Mine Workers Association 's health and safety programs by improving the training of safety investigators . In 1976 McAteer joined the Center for Law and Social Policy in Washington , D.C. where he played a major role in developing two mining laws , an expanded mine health and safety law and also a federal strip mining control law . He was a part of the Center for Law and Social Policy until 1983
Farmington Mine disaster
Farmington Mine disaster
Davitt McAteer