Watzman, the NMA’s senior vice president for regulatory affairs, is one of the principal authors of the organisation’s “CORESafety” initiative, a safety and health management system aimed at driving continuous improvement in the industry’s health and safety performance.
He has testified before Congress on many occasions to discuss impediments to performance improvement.
“I think there are several factors that contributed to 2014 being the safest year on record with the fewest fatalities in the history of US coal mines,” Watzman said in the latest edition of the World Coal Association’s Cornerstone publication.
"Certainly one contributing factor is CORESafety. We all take pride in the fact that the 16 coal mine fatalities recorded was a record.
“But the flip side is that 16 deaths is a stark reminder that more needs to be done to achieve the goal we all seek of zero fatalities across the entirety of the mining industry.
“Some point to the enhanced enforcement activity of the US Mine Safety and Health Administration as being the central factor to drive the improvement.”
However, he said that while enforcement played a role, it was important to remember that the US coal mining industry had been operating under the Mine Act for 45 years.
“So while the coal industry’s safety record has improved throughout this period, clearly enforcement alone is not going to get us to where we need to be,” he said.
“If that were the case, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Industry would have achieved its long-sought goal of zero fatalities because enforcement today is as strict as it has ever been.”
In developing and embracing CORESafety, Watzman said NMA’s leadership recognised the limitations of the reactive enforcement model at the heart of the Mine Act.
“We understood that MSHA’s implementation of this model would not, in and of itself, get the industry to zero fatalities – the goal we’re still working towards,” he said.
As far as the next milestone is concerned, Watzman said the NMA wants to achieve a “critical mass” of industry acceptance.
“We’re on our way, but we’re not there yet,” he said.
