Independent Contractors at Mines – Avoiding Legal Liability Pitfalls

When can MSHA cite independent contractors for violations on mine property? And what is the likelihood MSHA will cite mine operators for contractor violations? These are questions that we are often asked as mine safety lawyers. The answer to the first question is fairly straightforward – the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act grants MSHA the authority to issue citations directly to independent contractors at mines for violations that are within their area of responsibility. MSHA almost always will cite a contractor where the inspector concludes the contractor caused the violation or bore some responsibility for continued exposure of miners to the hazard.

As for when MSHA will hold mine operators responsible for contractor violations, things are now less clear. The Mine Act is a strict liability statute. Operators can be cited regardless of whether they themselves were negligent.

I owned and operated underground coal mines in Virginia from 1980 to 1998. I was a Mine Superintendent for most of the next 5 years. Then I opened another underground mine in 2004. I can personally tell you that my experience has been that MSHA most always wrote me the mine operator a violation even when an independent contractor created the violation. I can quote one incident that occurred when I was operating the mine I had in 2004. An excavator operator working for the large coal operator I leased from, was working ditch lines along the haul road to my mine. He actually got completely off the haul road to clean a pond and in doing so dug into and ruptured a main gas line. This could have been a very serious accident with a fatality. Fortunatly no one was hurt. My mine was cited for failure to report an inundation. The large coal company that the excavator operator worked for was also cited. I had no idea that it was my obligation to notify MSHA of the incident. It wasn't on mine property and wasn't caused by any of my employees. I contested the citation but MSHA wouldn't nullify the citation. There reasoning was that the operator was doing work that benifited my mine and at my request.