If your crew sets foot on mine property — and that includes cement plants, lime plants, and aggregate/sand & gravel operations — you're under MSHA jurisdiction, not just OSHA. Here's the plain-English version of what small contractors need to have in order.
Independent contractors working on mine property should have an MSHA Contractor ID. It's free, and mine operators will ask for it during prequalification. You'll use it on accident reports and quarterly employment filings.
Surface operations like aggregate, sand & gravel, and cement generally fall under Part 46; underground mines and certain surface mines fall under Part 48. Before working, your people need new miner training (24 hours under Part 46, with 4 hours before starting work), then 8-hour annual refresher training every 12 months, plus task training for new equipment or duties. Document it — our training record form is structured on MSHA Form 5000-23.
Certain accidents are immediately reportable: a death, an injury with a reasonable potential to cause death, entrapment, and other serious events listed in 30 CFR 50.10. The operator must call MSHA at 1-800-746-1553 within 15 minutes of knowing. If your crew is involved, notify the mine operator immediately — do not disturb the accident scene except to rescue or prevent further danger.
Reportable injuries and illnesses must be filed with MSHA on Form 7000-1 within 10 working days. Our MSHA accident/injury form captures the same information — narrative, experience, degree of injury, days away — so the official filing is a copy-paste job instead of a scramble.
At surface metal/nonmetal mines, a competent person must examine each working place at least once per shift, before or as work begins (30 CFR 56.18002). Adverse conditions must be promptly corrected and affected miners notified. A record must be made before the end of the shift and kept for one year. Our workplace exam form covers it.
Contractors with an MSHA ID file Form 7000-2 (quarterly employment and hours) for hours worked on mine property. It's how MSHA calculates incident rates. Track your mine-site hours by quarter so this takes minutes, not days.
Official filings (7000-1, 7000-2) still go to MSHA — we get your documentation ready so filing is fast and consistent.
