Since the Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MHSA) passed the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act in 1977, MHSA has possessed the power to shut down mines that show a pattern of violations, but that power had been rarely used until the past few years. As part of its mission to increase miner safety, MSHA has recently stated that they will begin taking increased action to shut down mines that are repeatedly cited with safety violations.

Those found to have a recurrent pattern of significant and substantial violations may be issued a pattern of violations and even directed to cease mine operations. This means that multiple citations will not only cost large amounts of money, but a mine could also be threatened with closure, even if safety improvements were made in the wake of the citations.

How Patterns of Violations are Determined

The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, as well as the MINER Act of 2006, set forth how the health and safety of miners’ working conditions are evaluated, what violations receive fines and how the cost of fines are determined, ranging up to $220,000 per violation.

A pattern of violations is determined by the recurrence of significant and substantial violations, commonly referred to as S & S violations. S & S violations are those that are likely to cause reasonably serious injury. MSHA will issue a written notification of a pattern of violations if a mine meets all of the following four criteria:

1. At least 50 citations/orders for S & S violations issued in the past 12 months
2. Eight or more S & S citations/orders issued per 100 inspection hours during the past 12 months, or the degree of negligence for at least 25 percent of the S&S citations/orders issued during the past 12 months is “high” or “reckless disregard”
3. At least 0.5 elevated citations and orders issued per 100 inspection hours during the past 12 months
4. An injury severity measure greater than the overall industry severity measure for all mines in the same mine type and classification over the past 12 months

If the mine meets both of the following two criteria, MSHA will also send a written notification:

1. At least 100 S & S citations/orders issued in the past 12 months
2. At least 40 elevated citations and orders issued during the past 12 months

After receiving the written notification, the mine operator has an opportunity to comment on the violations and improve their compliance. If any S & S violations are found within 90 days after this notification, a withdrawal order for all or part of the mine would automatically be issued. Each additional S & S violation would also cause a withdrawal order until the mine was inspected and found to be free of all violations.

Preventing a Pattern of Violations

The best way to avoid a withdrawal order, a pattern of violations notice or even citations for S & S violations is to take safety seriously in your operation. Stay familiar with MSHA’s standards and review your mine’s facilities and operations often to ensure compliance.

MSHA has created an online monitoring tool to help mine operators keep track of their pattern of violation criteria status. By entering your MSHA mine identification number, you can see the status of each criteria required to declare a pattern of violations. This can help those operations who are reorganizing to improve future safety initiatives. If you don’t have the mine identification number it can be looked up using the data retrieval system. The monitoring tool can be found at http://www.msha.gov/pov/povsinglesource.asp.

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This is not intended to be exhaustive nor should any discussion or opinions be construed as legal advice. Readers should contact legal counsel or an insurance professional for appropriate advice. ©2025 Zywave, Inc. All rights reserved