Boyce was honoured with the WCA Chairman's Special Award, presented on Monday at the World Coal Association board of directors meeting in Canberra.

"The honour is a credit to the more than 8300 Peabody Energy employees who make safety our shared value and way of life, who commit to a vision of incident-free workplaces and who take accountability for safe behaviour and practices at work and away," Boyce said.

"All mining workers have a right to arrive home safe at the end of the day and we must do everything we can to provide safe workplaces in the global mining sector."

Boyce was recognised for his work during his time as chairman of the US National Mining Association, where he joined industry leaders in developing and securing commitment to CORESafety, a safety and health management system for the mining industry.

It was developed to achieve an industry goal of eliminating fatalities and reducing the rate of reportable mining injuries by 50% within five years.

CORESafety was also cited as a best worldwide practice of mining safety leadership during the WCA 2013 Leadership and Excellence Awards.