Our mission at the Mine Safety
and Health Administration is to
implement the Mine Act,
to protect the mining industry's
most precious resource – the miner.
Miners produce the raw materials
that are vital to our economy and
the everyday lives of all Americans.
In a very real sense,
miners help make our world.
We at MSHA want to take the
opportunity to thank those who
choose the occupation of miner,
and to celebrate National Miners Day
on December 6 - a day set aside
by Congress to honor miners and to
remember their accomplishments and sacrifices.
Who are America's miners?
You might think of coal miners
in West Virginia and Kentucky
But there are also coal miners
in Colorado and Montana
And copper miners in New Mexico and Nevada
And salt miners in New York and Louisiana
In fact, miners work in
every one of the United States
Above ground and underground
Doing a variety of jobs
They extract nearly 100 types
of minerals from the ground
To heat homes
To carry electricity
To build bridges
To keep highways clear in winter
And to provide the raw materials for
cars, trucks, airplanes, computers,
cooking utensils, cosmetics, paint,
fertilizer, medicine, and…well,
it goes on and on
There are 13,761 mines in America
And 374,522 miners who work in them
December 6 is National Miners Day,
set aside by Congress in 2009 to recognize
and honor our nation's miners.
It commemorates a terrible mining tragedy
that occurred more than 100 years
earlier at Monongah, West Virginia,
when approximately 362 miners were killed.
It was the worst industrial accident
in our nation's history,
and it helped clear the path
for improved health and safety and oversight.
As the Senate resolution establishing
Miners Day notes,
"Miners and their families have achieved,
provided, and sacrificed so much for
the betterment of their fellow Americans."
And, despite dramatic improvements in health and safety,
"Miners still today risk life and limb in their labors."
We mourn and honor those who have
died in their work as miners.
Text: In remembrance of miners who have
died since the last National Miners Day.
we salute our nation's miners –
past, present and future.
And on this National Miners Day,
we at MSHA rededicate ourselves to
doing all that we can to ensure
that miners can go to work and return
home safe and healthy at the end of every shift.