MSHA can't prove it investigated most fatal mine accidents
Summary
The Mine Safety and Health Administration's own inspector general found that of roughly 120 fatal mine accidents missing from MSHA's investigation database between FY2018 and FY2023, MSHA could not produce investigation documentation for more than 75 of them -- meaning the agency responsible for finding what killed miners and preventing repeats may not have investigated most of these deaths at all. The same audit found MSHA wasted an estimated $9.5 million on unused emergency-response buildings and likely broke federal spending law in 4 of the 6 years reviewed.
A database gap that reaches into fatalities
The gap isn't limited to fatal cases. found about 1,930 of more than 3,650⧉ total accident events during the audit period lacked investigation information in MSHA's database at all -- roughly 53%. Separately, identified 147 withdrawal orders (the enforcement tool MSHA uses to pull miners from a dangerous area) that were tied to accident events but issued against unrelated, already-open activities like routine inspections. MSHA could document that an investigation actually happened for just 5 of those 147 cases -- about 3%. attributes this to inspectors not following guidance and supervisors not checking their work.
View data as table
| Fatal accidents lacking database information | 120 |
|---|---|
| Of those, no investigation documentation provided | 75 |
$9.5 million for a move that never happened
Separately, traced⧉ an estimated $9.5 million in wasted spending to a 2020 construction contract -- building two new structures and renovating five others in West Virginia to relocate mine rescue personnel, vehicles, and equipment from Pennsylvania. Construction finished in November 2023. MSHA never made the move. Agency personnel told the relocation fell through due to poor planning; MSHA still pays for its old Pennsylvania space while the new West Virginia buildings sit largely unused. flagged the $9.5 million as funds that should be put to better use.
And a spending cap MSHA couldn't track
MSHA's own appropriations acts capped 'mine rescue and recovery activities' spending at $2 million a year⧉ for FY2018 through FY2023. MSHA hadn't built the financial controls to actually track whether it stayed under that limit. When built its own cost estimates from MSHA's records, spending appeared to exceed the cap in 4 of the 6 years -- each a potential violation of the Antideficiency Act, the federal law barring agencies from obligating more than Congress appropriated. referred the matter to the Secretary of Labor for investigation.
View data as table
| Statutory cap (every year) | 2,000,000 |
|---|---|
| FY2019 (OIG estimate) | 2,500,000 |
| FY2020 (OIG estimate) | 3,000,000 |
| FY2021 (OIG estimate) | 2,800,000 |
| FY2023 (OIG estimate) | 2,100,000 |
The takeaway
- Most missing fatal-accident records stayed missing. MSHA couldn't produce investigation documentation for more than 75 of about 120 fatal accidents absent from its own database.
- $9.5 million went to buildings nobody moved into. A 2020 relocation contract was finished in 2023 -- and never used, due to what MSHA called poor planning.
- MSHA still hasn't fixed what a 2017 audit found. As of August 2025, 6 of 9 recommendations from a prior 2017 audit of MSHA's emergency-plan oversight remained unimplemented.
Stakeholders interviewed -- state mining agencies and unions -- generally described MSHA's on-the-ground emergency response as well-trained, well-equipped, and among the best in the mining industry; these findings concern MSHA's internal recordkeeping, planning, and oversight rather than its field performance during an active emergency. Of 's 12 total recommendations, MSHA disagreed with 2: the referral to investigate potential Antideficiency Act violations (MSHA argues the $2 million spending cap should only apply to costs from responding to a specific accident, not to maintaining year-round readiness) and a wireless-communications gap analysis. It agreed with the other 10, including every remaining recommendation addressed directly to MSHA itself.
Sources(1) ▾
- U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, Despite Past Success, MSHA's Mine Emergency Response Preparedness Hampered by Persistent Issues (Report No. 05-26-001-06-001) (2026-04-30) — performance audit of MSHA's mine emergency response and preparedness, covering FY2018-FY2023, issued April 30, 2026. Read in full via curl with a browser user agent and pdftotext -layout, including the agency response appendix. oig.dol.gov · original document
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The Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General audited⧉ how MSHA, the federal agency responsible for mine safety, responds to and investigates mine emergencies. Federal law requires operators to notify MSHA within 15 minutes of an accident; MSHA then investigates to determine what happened and prevent recurrences. found that of approximately 120 fatal accidents missing from MSHA's own investigation database between FY2018 and FY2023, MSHA could not produce investigation documentation for more than 75 of them when asked -- suggesting the agency may not have performed the investigation at all.