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NMA senior vice-president for regulatory affairs Bruce Watzman discussed newly released safety data from the US Mine Safety and Health Administration at the Pittsburgh Coal Mining Institute of America and Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration’s annual regional conference, the record of which confirm improvements are being made.

"US mining’s annual safety record to date surpasses its record for all previous years at this point," he said.

"Our record for lost-time accidents underscores the strong commitment coal and mineral mining companies have made to improving mine safety."

Versus the comparable period of 2008, the new federal data shows that mining fatalities have dropped – especially notable since last year was a record year in the industry for mine safety.

Additionally, performance to date is on track to make 2009 the third consecutive year of steady improvement at US mines as fatality numbers continue to fall.

"US mining has returned to our trend of steadily improving safety performance," Watzman said.

"We won’t be content until we achieve our ultimate goal of zero fatalities," he said, adding that coal mining fatalities in 2008 had dropped 40% from 2000.

Across all types of mining, including coal, MSHA records reflect a 13% reduction in the fatal injury rate since 2002 and a 26% decline in non-fatal injuries.

To date in 2009, there have been 13 deaths in coal mining across the nation. Of those, four occurred at underground mines and two at surface facilities serving underground operations.

All of the 2009 coal mining fatalities occurred in single-death incidents. February saw the most coal deaths with three incidents, all in Appalachia or the Illinois Basin.