The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, was developed to keep all workers safe, regardless of the jobs they do. It establishes fair, ethical treatment of all employees, whether you drive a truck or you stock shelves in a grocery store. So, why do miners have their own organization, known as MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration)? The following reasons explain why.

MSHA Safety Training

Some occupations, such as nursing, have an annual OSHA training. The training skims over what OSHA expects these potentially dangerous career professionals to do in the event of an accident or dangerous situation. Likewise, MSHA does the same for miners, except that miners are literally doing something dangerous every day. They are trying to tunnel into the ground where everything around them can buckle and fall in on them, crushing them to death. Ergo, the MSHA training is more extensive, and requires miners to attend and seriously pay attention to what is being said.

Miners' Jobs Are a Constant Risk for Death and Injury

OSHA presents the "what-ifs" and "what to do in the event of...". MSHA is a little different. There are no real "what-ifs" because tunnels into the Earth collapse several times over before they are effectively established and stabilized. Miners get their own health and safety organization because the dangers of their jobs are very real, and occur far more often than dangers in everyone else's jobs. 

Miners Are at Constant Risk for Lung Disorders

Black lung is a disease contracted by coal miners. Mesothelioma is another when high amounts of naturally occurring asbestos are breathed in by miners. All lung and chest-related diseases and cancers are not a remote possibility for miners, but a daily reality. The MSHA exists to remind miners of this on a daily basis and to help miners prevent these diseases by wearing masks and preventive gear.

There Are Many Different Kinds of Mining, All with Equal Risks

OSHA cannot help miners because OSHA was not developed with miners in mind. A slight oversight, to be sure, but an issue nonetheless. To fix this oversight from when OSHA was established and regulations written for most other careers, the MSHA was developed to address all mining issues. It quickly became apparent that MSHA needed subdivisions as some types of mining had more safety concerns than others. At any rate, miners and the work that they do were finally and fully addressed by MSHA.

Contact a company like Eagle Mine Safety to learn more.