The recently drafted Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010 (MSHA) began as a response to the recent multi-fatality accident at a Massey Energy Co. mine in West Virginia. It has now become a vehicle for passage of a much wider range of reforms to the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

As proposed, the MSHA includes H.R. 2067, the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA). PAWA proposes the most sweeping legislative change to the Occupational Safety and Health Act in its 40 year existence. Though many of the proposed revisions contained in PAWA have been in the works for several years, they have yet to be passed into law and there is some speculation that current attempts to gain passage will likewise be unsuccessful. However, the Department of Labor and OSHA have promised reform and have taken an active involvement in the passage of PAWA.

By Steven K. Metcalf, smetcalf@dsda.com