MSHA...21 U.S. Coal Miners Died In 2011

{Washington, D.C.}...The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said Thursday that 21 U.S. coal miners died on the job in 2011, the second lowest number in more than a century of record-keeping. The lowest number was 18 in 2009. Kentucky led the nation with eight coal-mining deaths, followed by West Virginia with six. Two coal miners died in Ohio, while Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia and Wyoming each recorded one coal-mining fatality. Several of the larger coal-producing states, including Alabama, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Utah, experienced zero mine fatalities last year. In addition to the 21 coal-mining deaths, 16 miners died at metal- and non-metal mining operations. The total of 37 deaths across all mining sectors compares to 48 in 2010, a year that included 29 deaths in the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster. Of the 37 deaths, 12 occurred at surface coal mines, 11 at surface metal/non-metal mines, nine at underground coal mines and five at underground metal/non-metal mines.