Although the mining industry finished 2024 near an all-time low in fatal accidents, the Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) reports that five miners died during the first month of 2025.
Three of January’s five fatal accidents occurred in Texas. The other two happened in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
According to MSHA, two of January’s fatal accidents involved powered haulage equipment. One involved machinery; another involved the fall of a face, rib, side or highwall; and yet another involved falling, rolling or sliding rock or material of any kind.
Chris Williamson, who served as assistant secretary at MSHA during the Biden administration, discussed the trend in fatal mine accidents during an exclusive December visit with P&Q.
“There’s still more work to be done to drive [mine fatalities] down even lower,” Williamson says. “I think the agency is well-positioned to continue to do that. My hope is it will be a focal point of the next administration – continue to prioritize and keep that number as low as possible.”
Last January, two miners were killed in accidents. No miners died in accidents last February.
The mining industry’s all-time-low fatalities mark is 25, a record established in 2016. Twenty-eight miners died in accidents in 2024.
