In a letter to MSHA deputy assistant secretary Michael Davis, NMA regulatory affairs vice president Bruce Watzman said that while the federal regulatory group had seen a “substantial increase in inspection activity” it continued to use a formula to determine inspection days that excluded inspection hours worked by the key category of citation-issuing MSHA inspectors.

“Presently, MSHA does not include the supervisory inspection hours in statistics used in inspection day calculations,” NMA said.

“Excluding the hours of selected supervisory ARs [authorized representatives] when calculating inspection days for any particular mine has a detrimental and erroneous effect on the calculations for penalty assessments, including violations per inspection day (VPID).”

In the letter NMA urged MSHA to amend its reporting criteria and calculations to include the activities of all MSHA-authorized representatives working at a minesite.

“Ultimately, MSHA should consider the inspection hours for all ARs when calculating inspection days, since Section 104(a) of the Mine Act specifically requires all ARs to issue citations or orders when they believe a violation has occurred, regardless of the ARs’ role within MSHA,” NMA said.

“Doing so would better reflect the true safety performance at minesites and provide more accurate safety data, while ensuing inspection activities and calculations are fully compliant with the Mine Act.”

NMA officials noted the intent of the Mine Act in giving ARs the power to issue citations and orders for conditions that constitute a violation in that person’s judgment.

“The Mine Act does not distinguish between supervisory personnel and non-supervisory personnel in that respect.

“Therefore, we are formally requesting that MSHA immediately revise its procedure for calculating inspection days to incorporate the onsite time of all ARs, including supervisors.”