Fourth Circuit Rules that Every “Operator” Has Unconditional Duty To Report Occupational Injuries to MSHA
The Mine Safety and Health Administration requires “Each operator” to report “each accident, occupational injury, or occupational illness at the mine” to MSHA within ten working days on a MSHA Mine Accident, Injury, and Illness Report Form 7000-1. Following an injury at an underground Virginia coal mine, a temporary labor agency that provided the miner to the mine reported the injury to MSHA, but the owner-operator of the mine did not, claiming its policy was not to report occupational injuries suffered by employees of an independent contractor (even though it acknowledged that it was an “operator” under MSHA regulations). The Fourth Circuit concluded that anyone who qualifies as an “operator” under MSHA regulations must report any qualifying accident or injury using Form 7000-1 and that this duty is unconditional and cannot be relieved by another entity’s reporting of the same injury.
