Upgraded MSHA data system to assist operators with compliance

The Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) completed a major upgrade to its primary data system, the Mine Data Retrieval System (MDRS), to bring increased functionality and more intuitive navigation to users.

According to MSHA, the MDRS offers a variety of tools, MSHA says, to help operators monitor their compliance with MSHA regulations. The system provides access to comprehensive mine location, status, ownership, employment, production, accident/inspection/violations history, and health sampling data. Additionally, MSHA’s compliance assistance calculators – pattern of violations, significant and substantial rate, and violations per inspection day – can be accessed here.

The MDRS gateway is the most visited page on the agency’s website, MSHA says.

All the standard reports previously provided are still available, but now MSHA-wide statistical reports providing real-time data are also tied to the MDRS. Furthermore, the new system provides advanced search capabilities where users can select entire industries, multiple mines and ownership groups. The platform also allows users to export datasets into either Microsoft Excel or a PDF for further analysis.

“The new Mine Data Retrieval System will simplify the process for operators and others to obtain key datapoints and compare the safety of their mines with industry standards,” says David Zatezalo, MSHA Assistant Secretary.

The upgrade has been in the works for more than a year, MSHA adds, and was guided in part by input from stakeholders, including mine operators and associations who participated via three webinars. A beta version was run side-by-side with the original platform on the agency homepage as MSHA gathered feedback and refined the system.

The new MDRS is now the exclusive gateway to this real-time data, posted prominently on msha.gov and available at msha.gov/mine-data-retrieval-system.

MSHA will continue to seek feedback and improve the MDRS to assist all stakeholders and the general public in monitoring the safety and health of the nation’s miners.