Published: December 8, 2022 |

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Christopher Williamson, the United States Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration’s Assistant Secretary
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National Miners Day, celebrated each year on Dec. 6, serves as a stark reminder of the importance of regulations for the safety of coal miners across the nation.

Christopher Williamson, the United States Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration’s Assistant Secretary and a native of Mingo County, recently issued a reminder of the importance of marking this occasion and the role his office plays in trying to prevent mining disasters from happening.

“I grew up in a small mining community there in Mingo County, West Virginia,” Williamson said during a recent conference call about the upcoming occasion.

Miners Day was established in 2009 and the date was chosen to acknowledge the Monongah mining disaster, the worst single loss-of-life event due to mining in American history.

On December 6, 1907, at least 362 West Virginia coal miners were killed in a catastrophic explosion.

“We will commemorate the 115th anniversary of the worst mining disaster in American history, which happened in Monongah, West Virginia,” Williamson said.

“That’s first and foremost why congress designated Dec. 6 as National Miners Day. One of the things we remember is the lives that were lost in Monongah,” Williamson added.

Williamson said Dec. 6 is also significant because it marks the occasion of another major mining disaster in United States History. Just 55 years after the Monongah accident, an explosion at the Robena Mine in Pennsylvania claimed the lives of 37 miners in 1962.

“We remember not only the miners that were lost in those two mine accidents, but all the miners we’ve lost,” Williamson said.

“Not just in major disasters, but through fatalities and also through the development of occupational illnesses,” Williamson added.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration works year-round to prevent death, illness and injury from mining and promote safe and healthful workplaces for miners across the nation.

The administration carries out the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act) as amended by the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act of 2006.

According to the administration, in 1978 — the first year the administration operated under the Mine Act of 1977 — 242 miners died in mining accidents. In 2020, this number fell to 29 fatalities.

The agency develops and enforces safety and health rules for all mines regardless of size, number of employees, commodity mined or method of extraction. The administration also provides technical, educational and other types of assistance to mine operators.

Appointed by President Joe Biden in April 2022, Williamson said he takes his history both growing up in a coal mining family and then working in mine safety as an adult to continue to make strides toward ensuring violations are caught and fatalities prevented as much as possible across the nation.

Major mining accidents can still occur. Again notably on Dec. 6, in 2011 — 49 years after the Robena Mine explosion — the administration concluded that flagrant safety violations contributed to a 2010 explosion at the Upper Big Branch-South Mine in Boone County, killing 29 miners and injuring two others. In this instance, the administration issued Massey Energy Company 369 citations and orders as well as civil penalties totaling $10.8 million.

Williamson said these types of major citations are a practice of the administration, and used as a preventative measure when possible. Just last week, Morton Salt Inc. was cited for a pattern of health and safety violations in Louisiana. Williamson cited this instance multiple times on a conference call, and used it as an example of the work currently being carried out by the administration.

Williamson said this week offers a time for reflection of the lives lost, the progress that has been made and the work that needs to continue to protect coal miners and mine workers across other industries in the country.

Source: Williamson Daily News

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