MSHA has resumed a practice it abandoned nearly four years ago to grant operators the opportunity to meet with enforcement personnel in pre-assessment safety and health conferences to discuss contested citations and/or orders. The practice began this month in all Metal/Non-Metal districts and in Coal districts 1, 6 and 11. Other Coal districts may come on line as resources permit.

MSHA’s goal in holding conferences is multi-fold. It wants to use them as a tool to reduce the number of contested citations and orders, increase accuracy and consistency, and improve communication among mine operators, miners and MSHA....

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