MSHA has issued a final rule intended to protect miners from pinning, crushing, or striking accidents caused by continuous mining machines in underground coal mines. Continuous mining machines are large, high-powered scrapers that extract coal from mines’ seams. The new rule will require mine operators to equip these machines with proximity detection systems, which use electronic sensors on both mining machines and miners to detect motion or the location of one object relative to another. Proximity detection systems can be programmed to send warning signals and stop mining machines before they injure or kill workers in underground coal mines. MSHA’s final rule establishes performance and maintenance requirements for proximity detection systems and requires training for those performing the installation and maintenance.