Introduction

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) collects data on mining employment, production, accidents, injuries, fatalities, etc. under Part 50 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. It releases this data in text format five times each calendar year (four quarterly releases and one final, closeout release). Each release contains 13 files - four Address/Employment (AE), four Accident/Injury/Illness (AI), four Accident Narrative, and one Master Index file. The groups of four files contain data for coal operators, coal contractors, metal/nonmetal operators, and metal/nonmetal contractors. Data from 1983 to present are available.

As a convenience, NIOSH has converted the MSHA data to SPSS (includes labels and coding information) and Microsoft Access (includes labels only) formats. Our process includes merging the AE, AI, and Narrative content for all four commodities into one AE and one AI file per release. We also recode certain variables and add new, computed variables for easier analysis. These files contain cumulative closeout data from 1983 to present. To reduce the file sizes, the ZIP file format has been used to compress the files.

SPSS format

SPSS AE 1983-2022
SPSS AI 1983-2022

Microsoft Access format

Microsoft Access AE and AI 1983-2022 (two data tables in one database)

Notes

  • Because these data have been obtained from sources outside of NIOSH, they are provided on an "as-is" basis.
  • Several recoded and computed variables have been added to the information provided by MSHA.
  • Beginning with the 2006 data, fatalities determined to be chargeable after the MSHA data files were closed out are added to the data files maintained by NIOSH. Chargeback fatalities included in NIOSH files: 2006 (n=1), 2007 (n=1), 2009 (n=1), and 2010 (n=1).
  • In the 2011 address/employment closeout file, Mine IDs 3601527 and 3304321 reported coal employment and production, along with stone employment. This has resulted in duplicate records for these Mine IDs. In previous calendar years both of these mines were listed as coal mining operations. In the latter part of 2011, these mines became stone mining operations. When counting mines, the duplicate records for coal need to be excluded and both mines should be considered stone operations since that was their status at the end of 2011.
  • The raw data closeout files posted by MSHA for 2013 differ slightly from the dynamic data MSHA used to generate their "Mine Injury and Worktime Reports for Coal and Metal/Nonmetal."
  • Beginning in 2013, the JOBTITLE and JOBTITL2 variables have been discontinued by MSHA and replaced with a new expanded OCCUPATION variable.
  • The closeout data files on this page may differ slightly from the dynamic data MSHA uses to generate published reports such as the Mine Injury and Worktime, Quarterly (MIWQ) final edition.

  • See Statistical Methodology for more information.

Documentation

Disclaimer: NIOSH maintains this page to enhance public access to general summary information on the health and safety of miners. Some of the links on this page point to information created and maintained by other organizations. NIOSH is not able to control the accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of this information and, therefore, should not be held responsible for data obtained from other organizations.


Page last reviewed: October 13, 2022
Page last updated: October 28, 2022