The recent fatal explosion in a West Virginia coal mine has raised new questions about the effectiveness of workplace safety enforcement in coal mines.

On Tuesday, the AP reported that because of a computer error at the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the West Virginia coal mine where 29 workers died in an explosion last week never received a warning about safety violations and a demand that the operator improve conditions in 90 days.

According to the AP:

“The director of the Mine Safety and Health Administration said the error discovered Monday night did not have an impact on the accident at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine because improvements had been made even without the warning. But the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and two other lawmakers called for an immediate investigation by the Labor Department's inspector general into the computer error. Reps. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., and Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., joined Miller in calling the mistake “deeply disturbing.”

Read the complete AP story, “Officials: Computer error affected mine scrutiny.”

The recent fatal explosion in a West Virginia coal mine has raised new questions about the effectiveness of workplace safety enforcement in coal mines.

On Tuesday, the AP reported that because of a computer error at the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the West Virginia coal mine where 29 workers died in an explosion last week never received a warning about safety violations and a demand that the operator improve conditions in 90 days.

According to the AP:

“The director of the Mine Safety and Health Administration said the error discovered Monday night did not have an impact on the accident at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine because improvements had been made even without the warning. But the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and two other lawmakers called for an immediate investigation by the Labor Department's inspector general into the computer error. Reps. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., and Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., joined Miller in calling the mistake “deeply disturbing.”

Read the complete AP story, “Officials: Computer error affected mine scrutiny.”