Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Justine Rellosa- Talk Radio News Service

According to Labor Department officials, new employee safety guidelines can play a role in preventing mine disasters like the one that claimed the lives of 38 workers in West Virginia in early April.

"We are working hard to identify the reform pieces that are necessary to assure the nation's miners that they can actually go to work everyday, come home every night, and do that for a lifetime through a mining career and retire at the end of the day healthy," said Joseph Main, the Assistant Labor Secretary for Mine Safety and Health, during a panel discussion on labor rules at the Center for American Progress.

Deputy Labor Secretary Seth Harris, who appeared alongside Main, said that the Department is focusing on a new initiative titled "Plan, Prevent, Protect," which requires employers to take more responsibility to ensure employee's are safe at work.

"’Plan, Prevent, Protect' aims to change the calculus, so that employers and other entities regulated by the Labor Department will take responsibility for employment law compliance,” Harris said.