 Mining. What would we do without it? Dedicated miners work in every state and territory day and night to produce fuel and materials to keep the lights on, to construct roads, bridges and buildings, to grow our food and to manufacture the countless items we need and use. Mining has always been a hazardous occupation. From the beginning, our nation's miners have faced dangers from roof falls, machinery, explosions of gas and dust, blasting, fires and floods. You are right if you think that mining is a tough, dangerous job. This is why the Mine Safety and Health Administration, MSHA, is here. We are part of the U.S. Department of Labor. Our job is to help improve workplace safety and health conditions for everyone who works in our nation's mines. Big and small, surface and underground, coal and metal non-metal. This sounds like a big assignment. And it is. Federal Mine Safety and Health Law has grown along with the American mining industry. Farmington, West Virginia. November 20, 1968. An explosion, spread by coal, dust and gas, rips through nine working sections of the mine's west side. 78 miners die in the blast. And 21 survivors make their way to the surface. Congress moved quickly to pass the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969. Legislation based on the belief that the first priority and concern of all in the coal mining industry must be the health and safety of its most precious resource, the miner. The Sunshine Mine, a metal operation near Kellogg, Idaho, caught fire on May 2, 1972. Gas and smoke killed 91 miners who were working inside. 81 others were evacuated from the mine. And two more were rescued a week later. The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 combined coal and metal non-metal mine health and safety law into one piece of legislation. The law that is on the books today. The Act requires our inspectors to inspect underground mines in their entirety four times per year and surface mines twice per year. To make sure they meet MSHA standards for safety and health, there are many standards. Let's find out about a few of them. At a surface mine, the inspector looks at things such as structures, machinery, impoundments, ground conditions, truck haulage, and explosives and blasting. At underground mines, our inspector examines roof and ground conditions, ventilation, electricity, haulage, and blasting. Inspectors take health samples at mines to check for potential hazards from conditions such as dust and noise. If an MSHA inspector finds an unsafe or unhealthy condition, the law requires that it be corrected. Sometimes we find a problem that's an immediate threat to safety and health. If this occurs, the affected area in the mine is closed or the equipment involved is removed from service and the miners leave the area until the condition is fixed. There's a lot more to safety and health than enforcement. We help people address safety and health concerns where they happen at the mine site. Engineers, scientists, and industrial hygienists from our technical support staff work with miners and mining companies to look at different problems and suggest ways to solve them. Some of these concerns include safe design and maintenance of mining equipment and machinery, roof support or ventilation systems in underground mines, and ground control at surface operations. We also look at mine waste disposal facilities and measurement and control of miners' exposure to health hazards such as dust, noise, and radiation. We investigate instruments, equipment, materials, and explosives to make sure that they are safe to use in mines. MSHA strongly encourages the American mining community to join in a number of cooperative programs to work together to solve safety and health problems. Agreements with other government agencies and colleges and universities as well as mining groups from other countries are in place to help make sure that we are part of an active and effective safety team. Up-to-date and useful training is vital since mining occurs in a hazardous, ever-changing environment where there is little room for error. MSHA requires each U.S. mine operator to have an improved plan for minor training. New underground miners with no underground mining experience get 40 hours of basic safety and health training before they start to work underground. New surface miners who have no surface mining experience receive 24 hours of basic safety and health training before they start work at a surface operation. All miners get 8 hours of refresher safety and health training every year. Miners assigned to new jobs get safety-related task training. The National Mine Health and Safety Academy in Beaver West Virginia is the world's largest institution devoted to safety and health in mining. It is a central training facility for federal mine inspectors and mine safety professionals from MSHA, government agencies, the mining industry, and labor. The Academy, in addition to presenting classes, produces and distributes a wide variety of mine safety training programs. So, what's ahead? America's mines produce more material than ever before. Sophisticated machinery and equipment lets miners work in areas that are often very difficult and dangerous. Mining technology changes constantly and every mine is unique. This is why inspection, technical and engineering assistance, and training are all important parts of our safety work. We will continue to address safety problems. Technology and safety will continue to go hand-in-hand in the mining industry. All of our programs and activities have one common goal, to prevent injuries, illnesses, and fatalities at our nation's mines. With the cooperation of miners and mine managers, we are working to make America's mines safer and healthier places in which to work. We are MSHA.