re: Roof collapse at Cargill Salt Mine ; Two men dead (identity’s in post)

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Never worked in a mine in Louisiana but I have worked in some in New Mexico and Colorado and the people who work in mines are, in my experience, WAY more interested in MSHA guidelines and requirements than any industry I am familar with are interested in OSHA requirements. OSHS is generally viewed by workers and management alike as un-necessary over reach by the federal government. MSHA is seen by workers as a life saving agency which has made their industry's risk manageable...mining management looks at MSHA the way all other management in all other industries look at OSHA...to burdensome and a barrier to production and profits. It is said MSHA regulations are written in the blood of miners. I worked on a cross walk of OSHA / MSHA regulations for construction projects recently and they are almost identical, the chief difference being who should be notified in the case of the discovery of an unsafe condition and in the case of an incident....other than they are almost verbatim, with the caveat that mines are inspected WAY more regularly.

Working in a mine is akin to spending your entire day at work standing UNDER a loaded crane. Mining is still among the most dangerous occupations on earth, although behind construction work. The difference is that OSHA came along after most industries realized it was bad optics to be killing people in the quest for profits while MSHA came along when mine operators were of the opinion that miners died working in mines and there wasn't much that could be done about it and still make money. Its amazing how much more interested miners are in complying with MSHA regulations than any workers in any industry I have worked in are....and its amazing how many times mine operators are fined serious money compared to OSHA regulated industries....all because the people whose lives are at risk are on board with MSHA while others see OSHA as a barrier.

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MSHA is under the umbrella of OSHA, but the only thing that differs is part 46 and part 48 of the 1910 CFR's which only deals with mining activities. MSHA has to visit every mine in the US at least twice per year whether that be at Cargill, BASF or Uncle John's gold mine in nowhere Alaska. If you have a fatality on a mine site, you have 15 MINUTES to notify MSHA and will be fined significantly if you do not make the call in time. You have 8 hours to report a fatality to OSHA. Luckily I only have to deal with Part 46 training since we do not do any contract work in Part 48 (underground) facilities.