Mine Safety and Health Administration

Mine Safety and Health Administration

Agency overview
Formed	1977
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States
Headquarters	Crystal City, Virginia, U.S.[1]
Employees	1,000
Annual budget	$397 million (2017 budget)
Agency executive	Christopher Williamson, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health
Website	www.msha.gov

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) (/ˈɛmʃə/) is a large agency of the United States Department of Labor which administers the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act) to enforce compliance with mandatory safety and health standards as a means to eliminate fatal accidents, to reduce the frequency and severity of nonfatal accidents, to minimize health hazards, and to promote improved safety and health conditions in the nation's mines.^[2] MSHA carries out the mandates of the Mine Act at all mining and mineral processing operations in the United States, regardless of size, number of employees, commodity mined, or method of extraction. David Zatezalo was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, and head of MSHA, on November 30, 2017. He served until January 20, 2021. Jeannette Galanais served as Acting Assistant Secretary by President Joe Biden on February 1, 2021 until Christopher Williamson took office on April 11, 2022. ^[3]

MSHA is organized into several divisions.^[4] The Coal Mine Safety and Health division is divided into 12 districts covering coal mining in different portions of the United States. The Metal-Nonmetal Mine Safety and Health division covers six regions of the United States.