How to Prepare for an MSHA Inspection
MSHA inspects every surface mine at least twice a year, unannounced, and the inspection actually starts months earlier — in your paperwork and your daily habits. Here's how well-run quarries stay boring on inspection day. (General education, not legal advice; your state and cooperative programs add layers.)
01Keep the paper inspection-ready, always
First stop is nearly always documentation: Part 46 training records (new miner, annual refresher, task training) current for every person on site including contractors; workplace examination records complete and signed; the mine ID posted; and reporting obligations (quarterly employment/production, immediate accident notification) squared away. Paper problems are the easiest citations an inspector writes.
02Make workplace exams real, not ritual
A competent person must examine each working place each shift, record conditions found, and — the part that matters — record that corrections happened. Exams that read 'OK, OK, OK' for 400 straight shifts before a rock falls tell a story nobody wants told in a courtroom. Train examiners to write what they actually see.
03Patrol the perennial top-ten
Most surface citations cluster in the same places every year: guarding on moving machine parts, electrical (grounding, damaged cords, panels), berms on elevated roadways, seat belts, housekeeping and trip hazards, PPE, and defective mobile equipment (horns, brakes, backup alarms). Walk your site with that exact list monthly and you've pre-run the inspection.
04Do the inspection walk-through right
Accompany the inspector (it's your right), take parallel notes and photos, fix what can be fixed on the spot — good-faith abatement is real currency — and keep answers factual without volunteering essays. Designate in advance who walks, who talks, and who runs for documents.
05Know the citation mechanics calmly
Citations carry gravity, negligence, and abatement deadlines. Meet every abatement time or get extensions in writing. You have contest rights and an informal conference option — use them for genuinely wrong citations, pay and fix the fair ones, and never let a deadline lapse into a failure-to-abate order, which is a different animal entirely.
06Build the culture that makes this easy
Sites that treat every day as inspection day don't 'prepare' — pre-shift equipment checks that mean something, immediate guarding fixes, examiners who write real entries. The goal isn't beating the inspector; it's the version of the operation where the inspector is redundant.
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Figures are approximate, compiled from public sources as of mid-2026, and rounded for readability. Rankings shift with markets, mergers, and new discoveries. Nothing here is investment, legal, or engineering advice for a specific site — for that, hire an engineer. We know one.