Inadequate  ventilation systems or roof support systems can directly affect the safety  and health of mine workers. Although  MSHA has extensive inspection procedures, some of them are unclear,  while others are difficult to locate because they are contained in so many  different sources. Although many of MSHA’s highly trained and experienced underground  coal mine inspectors will be eligible to retire within the next 5 years, and  the agency’s historic attrition rates indicate that many of them will actually  retire, the agency has not developed a plan for replacing these inspectors. However, MSHA is not making full use of available human capital  flexibilities to streamline its hiring procedures or retain the services of  inspectors. In addition,  MSHA cannot track trends in fatal or nonfatal injury rates at mines that  use contractor staff to mine coal. Conclusions

MSHA plays an important role in protecting the safety and health of coal  miners. MSHA has extensive policies and procedures and has assigned  highly qualified staff to its processes for reviewing and approving mine  plans, conducting inspections of underground coal mines, and  investigating accidents. If  MSHA does not develop a plan for addressing the large number of  retirements of inspectors over the next 5 years, it may not be able to  continue to ensure the safety and health of underground coal miners. Recommendations

In order to provide better oversight over its operations, including  collecting all of the data needed to provide this oversight, we recommend  that the Secretary of Labor direct the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety  and Health to monitor the timeliness of 6-month technical inspections conducted as part  of MSHA’s review of ventilation and roof control plans to ensure that all  inspections are completed by the district offices; monitor follow-up actions taken by its district offices to ensure that mine  operators are correcting hazards identified during inspections on a timely  basis; update and consolidate guidance provided to its district offices on plan  approval and inspections to eliminate inconsistencies and outdated  instructions, including clarifying guidance on coordinating technical  inspections with regular quarterly inspections of mines; develop a plan for addressing anticipated shortages in the number of  qualified inspectors due to upcoming retirements, including considering  options such as streamlining the agency’s hiring process and offering  retention allowances; amend the guidance provided to independent contractors engaged in high- hazard activities requiring them to report information on the number of  hours worked by their staff at specific mines so that MSHA can use this  information to compute the injury and fatality rates used to measure the  effectiveness of its enforcement efforts; and  revise the systems it uses to collect information on accidents and  investigations to provide better data on accidents and make it easier to  link injuries, accidents, and investigations. The plan also does not link the accomplishment of  MSHA’s strategic goals using outcome data—such as trends in the  incidence rate (fatalities and nonfatal injuries) at underground coal  mines—to its future human capital needs.
Why GAO Did This Study

Despite a drop in injury and fatality rates since the formation of the Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), mining is still a dangerous industry. Focusing on underground coal mines, GAO assessed how well MSHA oversees its process for reviewing and approving critical types of mine plans and the extent to which MSHA's inspections and accident investigations processes help ensure the safety and health of underground coal miners.

What GAO Found

To help ensure the safety and health of underground coal miners, MSHA staff review and approve mine plans, conduct inspections, and investigate serious accidents. In these three areas, GAO found that MSHA has extensive procedures and qualified staff. However, MSHA can improve its oversight, guidance, and human capital planning efforts. MSHA is not effectively monitoring a few key areas. MSHA headquarters does not ensure that 6-month technical inspections of ventilation and roof support plans are being completed in a timely fashion. This may lead to mines operating without up-to-date plans or mine operators not following all requirements of the plans. Additionally, MSHA officials do not always ensure that hazards found during inspections are corrected promptly. Gaps were found in the information that MSHA uses to monitor fatal and nonfatal injuries, limiting trend analysis and agency oversight. Specifically, the agency does not collect information on hours worked by independent contractor staff needed to compute fatality and nonfatal injury rates for specific mines, and it is difficult to link information on accidents at underground coal mines with MSHA's investigations. Guidance provided by MSHA management to agency employees could be strengthened. Some inspection procedures are unclear and are contained in many sources, leading to differing interpretations by mine inspectors. The guidance on coordinating inspections conducted by specialists and regular inspectors is also unclear, resulting in some duplication of effort. Finally, although about 44 percent of MSHA's underground coal mine inspectors will be eligible to retire in the next 5 years, the agency has no plan for replacing them or using other human capital flexibilities available to the agency to retain its highly qualified and trained inspectors. The potential shortage of inspectors may limit MSHA's ability to ensure the safety and health of underground coal miners.