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HRD-82-84 1 (1982-06-10)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabdjc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 


                  UNITED STATES GENERAL ACC0UNTING OFFICE
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20548

UMiA'I RLSOURCLS
   DIVISION


   B-207666                                           JUNE 10,1982



   The Honorable Nick J. RahlI
   House of Representatives
                                                         118645
    Dear Mr. Rahall:

         Subject:  Some Required Coal Mine Inspections Are Not
                   Being Performed by the Mine Safety and Health
                   Administration (GAO/HRD-82-84)

         Your September 22, 1981, letter expressed concern that the
    Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA's) Field Office in
    Logan, West Virginia, was seriously understaffed and was incapable
    of performing all required coal mine inspections. MSHA is an
    agency within the Department of Labor, and it is responsible for
    administering the mine safety and health program and making mine
    inspections. You requested that our office conduct an investiga-
    tion to determine

         --the extent of MSHAs inability to perform its required
           inspections,

        --the reasons for the seeming lack of trained inspectors to
           conduct mine inspections, and

         --whether inspectors are being intimidated into quitting
           their jobs.

         Our review showed that some coal mine inspections required by
    law were not being performed either nationwide or in the Logan,
    West Virginia, Field Office. MSHA representatives attributed this
    to an inadequate number of mine inspectors. In recent years; the
    number of MSHA coal mine inspectors has declined, nationally and
    in Logan. This decline was caused by hiring freezes and restric-
    tions beginning in 1978.

         We interviewed seven former coal mine inspectors who had
    recently resigned from MSHA's Logan Office and some of them cited
    instances of harassment or verbal abuse. However, none said they
    were intimidated into resigning. The former inspectors said that
    the reasons they resigned were inadequate MSHA financial benefits
    and job dissatisfaction caused by a variety of factors.


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