Enforcement officers from MSHA's coal and metal and non-metal programs will visit mines across the US to conduct safety "walk and talks".

Officers will engage with miners and operators to increase awareness of the recent fatalities and encourage them to apply their safety training and remain vigilant for unsafe conditions.

Discussion topics will include: task training, mine examinations, causes of mining fatalities and best practices to prevent mine accidents.

Since October, 20 miners have been killed in metal and non-metal mining accidents, six of them were supervisors.

MSHA held a summit on May 5 to inform the mining industry about the causes of these accidents and shared best practices needed to prevent them.

Last week, more than 250 representatives from the metal and non-metal mining industry took part in a conference call with MSHA officials to continue the discussion about the role that safety trainers could play in accident prevention.