When it comes to mine safety, most safety professionals expect the most serious MSHA violations to stem from complex hazards — things like electrical wiring issues or ground support deficiencies. But a recent summary from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) tells a different story. The serious violations issued in the first half of this fiscal year weren’t the result of obscure or technical infractions. They were from basic hazards and safety deficiencies that miners are trained to look for on day one of their New Miner training. Reducing MSHA violations starts with mastering the fundamentals.
Why MSHA Violations Are Issued: The Basics of Enforcement
Since the passage of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act in 1977, MSHA has been working to protect mining’s most valuable resource: the miner. They do this by using the proverbial carrot and the stick. On the one hand, MSHA offers free technical support and a wide range of safety resources. But on the other hand, they conduct inspections and issue MSHA violations when mines are not in compliance with MSHA’s standards. And MSHA is required by law to inspect each surface mine a minimum of twice annually and each underground mine at least four times per year. So, when you are working in the mining industry, it is just a matter of time before you receive an MSHA inspection — and potentially, a citation for one or more MSHA violations. Reducing MSHA violations means preparing for inspections before they happen.
Understanding S&S MSHA Violations: What Makes a Citation Significant
Even though everyone knows what MSHA is looking for, the inspectors still find violations and issue citations. The most serious citations are called “Significant & Substantial”, or “S&S” citations, and they are the MSHA violations that have the highest potential to lead to a serious injury or illness. These types of citations are tracked and analyzed by MSHA who then shares that information with us in Industry. But before we go through what MSHA has found this year, it is important to understand how an inspector determines when a violation rises to the level of “Significant & Substantial.”
This determination relies on both the knowledge and the judgment of the MSHA inspector. Once the inspector decides that there has been a violation of either an MSHA standard or regulation, he must use his judgment to decide on the seriousness of the violation. To do this, he has to consider two factors: the “Negligence” of the violation and the “Gravity” of the violation.
• Negligence: is the inspector’s judgment of whether the mine operator or miner knew—or should have known—about the hazardous condition. • Gravity: is the likelihood of an incident occurring and, if the incident did occur, how serious the resulting injury or illness could be.
When deciding on the negligence of a violation, the inspector can choose options ranging from “None,” all the way to “Reckless Disregard”. When determining the gravity of a violation, the inspector needs to make two decisions: The first is how likely the violation would be to cause an injury or illness, and the second is the severity of the injury or illness if it occurred. The choices for severity range from “No Lost Workdays” all the way up to “Fatal”. Once the inspector has completed his assessment of the violation, he must then decide whether it rises to the level of “Significant and Substantial”.
According to MSHA’s Program and Policy Manual Volume 1, to qualify as an S&S citation the violation must meet 4 criteria:
- It must be a violation of the mandatory safety or health standard. What this means, is that it must be a violation of an MSHA standard, not a violation of an MSHA regulation. Basically, MSHA standards are the mandatory health, safety and training requirements in Section 101 of the Act, and MSHA regulations are in Section 508 of the act and cover rules and administrative provisions.
- It must be a “Discrete Safety or Health Hazard”. However, if the inspector is already writing a citation, he thinks there is a safety or health hazard.
- A “Reasonable Likelihood of Injury or Illness”.
- A “Reasonable Likelihood of Serious Injury or Illness”.
On April 8th of this year, MSHA published a summary on the msha.gov webpage of the S&S citations issued in the first half of fiscal year 2025. You can find it at: https://www.msha.gov/news-and-updates/alerts-hazards/filter/information-alert. During this period, MSHA issued a total of 43,819 citations. 8,240 of these were classified as an S&S citation, which means that about 19% of the total MSHA violations had a high potential of leading to a serious injury.
The MSHA report organized the S&S MSHA violations into four categories: Those issued at Surface Coal Mines, at Underground Coal Mines, at Surface Metal/Nonmetal mines and lastly those issued at Underground Metal/Nonmetal mines.
Coal and Metal/Nonmetal mines are very different, and because of my limited experience with Coal, I am going to focus on Surface and Underground Metal/Nonmetal mines. Surface Metal/Nonmetal mines were issued a total of 1,449 S&S citations in the first half of the 2025 fiscal year and Underground Metal/Nonmetal mines were issued a total of 221 S&S citations. MSHA’s summary lists the top 5 standard MSHA violations for each type of mine and after looking at the data, I was very disappointed with what I found.
The number one most common S&S citation for surface mines was a violation of Part 56.20003(a). The most common S&S citation for underground mines was a violation of Part 57.20003(a). What do these two standards cover? Do they cover something complex and technical? No, they are the surface and underground MSHA violations that cover “Housekeeping”. MSHA states that “Workplaces, passageways, storerooms, and service rooms shall be kept clean and orderly”. Good housekeeping is the foundation of a safe workplace. And it can’t get more basic than keeping your workplace clean and organized. Reducing MSHA violations starts with proper housekeeping, and it shows.
The second most common S&S citation for surface mines was a violation of Part 56.14107(a). This is the standard covering “Machine Guarding”. It states that “Moving machine parts shall be guarded to protect persons from contacting gears, sprockets, chains, drive, head, tail, and take-up pulleys, flywheels, couplings, shafts, fan blades, and similar moving parts that can cause injury.” And this also happens to be the third most common S&S citation for underground mines. I don’t know if it is complacency or if miners are not taking the time to inspect their work areas, but it is disappointing that in 2025 there were a total of 438 S&S MSHA violations issued for machine guarding. Improving inspections and maintenance practices is key to reducing MSHA violations in this area.
The third most common S&S citation for surface mines was a violation of Part 56.11001, which covers “Safe Access”. The standard states, “Safe means of access shall be provided and maintained to all working places.” And this same hazard was the fifth most common underground S&S citation. The first thing we are supposed to do before starting any work is to make sure that we can safely get to our workplace. Whether we are scaling into a heading underground or keeping our walkways clear of debris onthe surface, we need to take the time to make sure we can safely access our work area and avoid preventable MSHA violations. Once again, reducing MSHA violations comes down to doing the basics right, every time.
The fourth most common S&S citation on surface was a violation of Part 56.9300(a) which covers “Berms and Guarding”. It states that “Berms or guardrails shall be provided and maintained on the banks of roadways where a drop-off exists of sufficient grade or depth to cause a vehicle to overturn or endanger persons in equipment.” This violation is very similar to the second most common underground S&S citation, which was a violation of Part 57.3200. This covers “Correction of Hazardous Conditions”. The regulation states that “Ground conditions that create a hazard to persons shall be taken down or supported before other work or travel is permitted in the affected area. Until corrective work is completed, the area shall be posted with a warning against entry and, when left unattended, a barrier shall be installed to impede unauthorized entry.” Once we identify a hazard or hazardous condition, we need to either correct it or control it using berms and/or barriers — and avoid repeat MSHA violations. Corrective action is another crucial step in reducing MSHA violations sitewide.
The fifth most common S&S citation on surface was a violation of Part 56.14100(b) which covers “Safety Defects, Examination, Correction and Records”. It states, “Defects on any equipment, machinery, and tools that affect safety shall be corrected in a timely manner to prevent the creation of a hazard to persons.” And again, we have the same thing happening underground where the fourth most common S&S citation was a violation of Part 57.14100(c) which covers the exact same thing. Unfortunately, most of us have seen the pencil whipping of inspections. Take the time to inspect your workplace and your equipment and if you find a safety deficiency, correct it before going to work to prevent unnecessary MSHA violations. Improving the quality of pre-shift inspections is key to reducing MSHA violations over time.
As we can see, the S&S citations so far this year involve hazards that should have been easily identified. They are the basic safety deficiencies that a thorough Workplace Examination would catch. Complacency can be dangerous. Just because shortcuts like pencil-whipping inspections or working near unguarded equipment haven’t hurt you yet, doesn’t mean the risk isn’t real. Most injuries start with shortcuts and complacency, so it’s essential to take the time to carefully inspect your work area every day. Remember, it’s your workplace. Take the time to inspect it so that you can go home safe at the end of your shift — and help reduce MSHA violations across the industry. Reducing MSHA violations begins with personal responsibility and daily discipline.
About the Author: John Fowler
John Fowler is a Certified Safety Professional and a Certified Mine Safety Professional who has worked on projects ranging from offshore oil/gas platforms in Alaska to surface and underground mines in the western US. You can contact John at john.m.fowler@gmail.com