Experts: Loss of federal mining program could harm workers, researchers
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Loss of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Mining Program will reverse decades of progress in preventing disease, injury and death among miners, experts said.
Around 150 researchers are expected to be laid off next month, effectively shuttering the program.
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Steve Schafrik, associate professor of mine engineering at the University of Kentucky, said the agency's research labs are conducting studies not easily be replicated, noting the labs contain specialized equipment aimed at reducing hazards to which miners are exposed.
"Facilities for trying to reduce the noise of equipment so that workers aren't exposed to that level of noise all day, every day," Schafrik noted. "That's a pretty difficult task, and you need to have very specific research equipment to do that."
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said layoffs are part of an effort to combine numerous agencies under the umbrella of the new "Administration for a Healthy America." According to federal data, around one of five of the nation's operating coal mines are located in Kentucky.
Schafrik pointed out the program's worker safety materials are used by mining industries around the world. He stressed the shutdown also leaves an uncertain future for grants and contracts needed to recruit new researchers.
"NIOSH has put a big emphasis on generating capacity within the academic institutions for replenishment of the researchers who can go out and work in academia, industry, regulatory bodies and government research," Schafrik outlined.
He added the program's closure will affect other industries, such as mineral production.
"While we are looking to get more critical mineral production inside of the United States, to be coupling that with the reduction of the Health and Safety Research Program, I don't understand the reasoning behind that," Schafrik observed.
According to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, 10 miner fatalities occurred between Jan. 3 and March 5, 2025, more than triple the number from the same period last year.
