Accidents Killed 8 Miners Between January and March 2014

The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration is reporting that eight miners died in mine accidents in the first three months of 2014, three in coal mining accidents and the rest in metal and other mines.

Joseph Main, the assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, says they’ve seen a spike in deaths thus far in the second quarter, primarily in metal and other non-coal mining.

Since October, there have been 19 mining fatalities.

Main says mine operators need to re-evaluate the quality of the training that miners are receiving, as well as their examinations of work sites. He says they appear to be lacking.

The mine safety administration is part of the Labor Department.