Pattern of Violations

The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act), as amended, places the ultimate responsibility on mine operators for ensuring the safety and health of miners. The legislative history of the Mine Act emphasizes that Congress included the pattern of violations (POV) provision for mine operators who demonstrated a disregard for the safety and health of miners through a recurring pattern of significant and substantial (S&S) violations. MSHA was to use the POV provision in situations where other enforcement actions had been ineffective at bringing the mines into compliance with safety and health standards. This final rule will simplify the POV criteria, improve consistency in applying the POV criteria, and more adequately achieve the statutory intent. It also will encourage chronic violators to take proactive measures to comply with the Mine Act and MSHA's safety and health standards to bring their mines into compliance. This final rule contains a provision subject to review and approval by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). MSHA is submitting this information collection package to OMB for review under 44 U.S.C. § 3504, paragraph (h) of the PRA, as amended (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). The existing rule included mitigating circumstances under the initial screening criteria, but does not define mitigating circumstances. MSHA explains its intent in policy. The final rule incorporates the initial screening criteria into the pattern criteria for placing a mine in a POV status. The preamble to the final rule states that MSHA will consider an operator's effective implementation of an MSHA-approved corrective action program as a mitigating circumstance. MSHA expects that most mine operators, who compare their compliance record with the POV criteria on MSHA's Web site and determine that they are approaching a POV level, will submit a written corrective action program to the District Manager for approval and work to bring their mines into compliance to avoid being issued a POV notice, which could result in the temporary closure of the mine or sections of the mine. MSHA believes that an operator who implements a corrective action program is demonstrating a commitment to complying with MSHA's standards and regulations, and to restoring safe and healthful conditions for miners.

The latest form for Pattern of Violations expires 2022-09-30 and can be found here.