Learn more about the industry’s work to improve safety and health.
EMA and our member companies have worked together to develop an ongoing series of Toolbox Talks, a resource managers in the field can use to conduct short, informal safety meetings, typically lasting 10–15 minutes, conducted on-site before a work shift begins.
EMA and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) maintain an alliance to develop materials and products that can be used to improve the safety and health of the workforce in our industry. MSHA and the EMA have agreed to work to improve miner safety and health through cooperative efforts in education and training, technical assistance, mining industry outreach and communications. The Alliance was originally formed in 2003, renewed again in 2004 and 2023. The alliance continues to generate a wealth of safety and health products.
EMA’s Safety Achievement Awards recognize the best reportable injury rate for an individual EMA member company’s entire operation across all of the mines they operate in North America and for an individual EMA member company site location. Awards area made by size of operations as well: large company (700,000 or more employee hours), medium company (100,000 to 699,999 employee hours), and small company (fewer than 100,000 employee hours). The recognition program is run in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
EMA worked with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to empower minerals industry personnel to apply state-of-the-art dust control technology to help reduce or eliminate mine and mill worker exposure to hazardous dust concentrations—a critical component in ensuring the health of our nation’s mine workers.
The handbook provides information on proven and effective control technologies that lower workers’ dust exposures during all stages of mineral processing. The handbook describes both dust-generating processes and the control strategies necessary to enable mine operators to reduce worker dust exposure. Implementation of the engineering controls discussed can assist operators, health specialists, and workers in reaching the ultimate goal of eliminating pneumoconiosis and other occupational diseases caused by dust exposure in the mining industry.
Sign up to receive the latest news and updates from the Essential Minerals Association.
