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COVID-19: MSHA Did Not Complete or Accurately Report Mandatory Inspections

Audit · Department of Labor OIG · 2023-10-17 · about Department of Labor

Report

Title
COVID-19: MSHA Did Not Complete or Accurately Report Mandatory Inspections
Submitting OIG
Department of Labor OIG
Component agency
Department of Labor
Type
Audit
Publication date
2023-10-17

Recommendations (11)

#StatusText
1ClosedWe recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health report transparently each year on the number of idle mine visits (E28) and attempted inspections (E27) used to eliminate mandatory inspections each fiscal year.
10OpenWe recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health revise business rules used in MSHA reports for the mandatory inspections program to align with the Mine Act and MSHA policy, or update MSHA policy accordingly and consider raising the…
11OpenWe recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health improve the design and execution of MSHA’s internal control system for the mandatory inspections program to align with the GAO Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government,…
2OpenWe recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health update MSHA policies to: (1) define a schedule for verifying mine statuses; (2) specify when visual verifications (e.g., E28 idle mine visits) are necessary; (3) limit deviations from the…
3OpenWe recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health redesign monitoring processes to check Part 50 data reporting for mines on a quarterly basis, and verify timely certification of mandatory inspections and accuracy of activity codes and…
4OpenWe recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health update supporting tools based on revisions to the mine status criteria.
5OpenWe recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health develop a process to verify if: (1) mines in “temporarily idle” status for extended periods need a change to “abandoned” status and (2) mines with underground openings are being timely…
6OpenWe recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health verify all underground coal mines in abandoned status for more than 90 days are either sealed (and its status updated in MSHA’s system), in the process of sealing and are issued a…
7OpenWe recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health communicate to staff on: (1) the current version of mine status criteria, (2) MSHA reports and tools available for the mandatory inspection program, and (3) leadership’s expectations on…
8ClosedWe recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Add a system control to verify the “primary mine type” field is populated.
9OpenWe recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health update policy or procedures to: (1) clearly define when an inspection starts and ends and (2) ensure the inspection dates for an E01 mandatory inspection include any inspection work done…

Source

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