Work-related deaths at US coal mines near record low

U.S. coal mines are at an all-time low for work-related deaths, according to officials.

The Associated Press reports more stringent team inspections and other policies made after a 2010 mine explosion have helped improve safety.

{mosads}”I do think we’re seeing a cultural change in the mining industry that’s for the better,” Joseph Main, assistant Labor Secretary and head of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, told the AP.

The drop in deaths could also be related to the fact that fewer people are working in the mines. Coal production in Appalachia has fallen, and mines are shuttering. 

Main and the U.S. government did take action to try to make mines safer after the 2010 Upper Big Branch explosion in Raleigh County, W.Va., which killed 29 miners.

Main created a strategy targeting mines that had multiple safety violations and conducted “impact” inspections, which dispatched a team to each site.

While the first list after the explosion only focused on 51 mines, 42 of which were coal, the agency has since held “impact” inspections at 830 mines.