Independent Review of MSHA's Actions at Crandall Canyon Mine

Recommendation: During a mine emergency involving a non-English speaking family
member, MSHA should ensure that information discussed during the family briefings is
shared with family members in the most appropriate manner.
MSHA should evaluate every operator’s ERP to ensure the plans, where necessary, address
providing interpreters for non-English speaking miners and their families in the event of a
mine emergency. MSHA should require operators to revise the ERPs if needed.
Potential Emotional Involvement with Family Members
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent federal agency that has
the responsibility for investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States, as well as
any significant accidents in other modes of transportation. In 1996, Congress passed the
Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act. This legislation also placed the responsibility for
coordinating information to victims and their families impacted by aviation disaster on the
NTSB. Many individuals, some within the NTSB, did not believe the NTSB should have the
responsibility for family assistance. They were concerned that this additional role would
detract from and interfere with their independence and make it more difficult to maintain
objectivity. To address these concerns, the NTSB established a policy that personnel
conducting the accident investigation would be totally separate from personnel interacting
with the families.
District 9’s Mine Emergency Response Plan (MERP) specifies “that the person in charge should
not be emotionally attached to the victims – for example, a brother, sister, son, or other family
member. If such a situation develops, the person-in-charge should delegate authority to a
subordinate or to a back-up District Manager.” While this plan primarily addresses family
members of the person-in-charge, a person who regularly briefs family members, and interacts
with them for extended periods, can become emotionally involved with them.
Should it become necessary to discontinue the rescue effort due to unacceptable risks for the
rescue workers, and the person-in-charge is emotionally involved with family members of the
missing or trapped miners, the person-in-charge potentially could be influenced by emotions,
rather than the safety of the rescue workers.
The person-in-charge for MSHA during the rescue effort at the Crandall Canyon Mine also
conducted media briefings and two daily family briefings. Frequently, the person-in-charge
met with family members after the briefings to address questions or concerns families had, but
did not want to bring up during the joint briefings. On occasion, these discussions took place
during family members’ evening meal which was provided by various organizations such as
the Red Cross. This type of interaction, over a prolonged period of time, could result in the
person-in-charge becoming too closely involved with family members during the rescue effort.
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