MSHA accident investigators and special investigators recently underwent a two-week training program facilitated by the FBI Laboratory's Evidence Response Team Unit. The training covered securing an accident scene, photographing and sketching, collecting and packaging evidence, conducting interviews, dealing with false or altered records, and releasing the scene. The training will help sharpen MSHA investigators' skills and knowledge to conduct investigations, said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. “In the event an accident investigation identifies possible criminal activities, MSHA's investigators will be better prepared to interact with the Department of Justice.”
The labor-force participation rate – the share of the adult population that either had a job or was trying to find one – stood at 63.6%, as of September, close to a 30-year low, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most of the drop-outs are not unemployed workers who abandon their job searches, according to The Wall Street Journal, but are retirees, students or stay-at-home parents. Fully two-thirds of the drop is due to the aging workforce and other structural factors, according to Barclays Capital.
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