“ About a month before I graduated law school , the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster happened ,” he says . “ At that point in time I had already decided I wanted to pursue a career in public service . I had the opportunity to work for an administrative law judge at the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission right out of law school . That ’ s where I really got interested as a lawyer about the power of the Mine Act . That ’ s where I thought I could make a difference at that point in time .”
Williamson says a lot of the mine safety rules and regulations put into action today are a direct result of coal miners in the Mountain State .
“ There ’ s a whole history and reason why Congress put all those protections for miner safety and health into law and created our agency to enforce those , and a lot of it comes out of West Virginia ,” he says . “ There ’ s a history of West Virginia coal miners going on wildcat strikes just to raise awareness and have black lung disease actually recognized as an occupational illness . This led to what was the 1969 Coal Act that was the predecessor to the 1977 Mine Act . Then there were mining disasters that happened like the mining disaster that happened in Farmington , WV , the community where U . S . Senator Joe Manchin grew up .”
Before his position at MSHA , Williamson worked for Manchin in 2013 as the primary advisor of labor and mine safety health issues , which included the oversight of prominent issues such as black lung benefits .
Williamson tours the Pinto Valley Mine in Arizona .
“ There ’ s a whole history and reason why Congress put all those protections for miner safety and health into law and created our agency to enforce those , and a lot of it comes out of West Virginia .”
“ Working in Manchin ’ s office was special ,” he says . “ I got to wake up every day and go try to do something better for West Virginians .”
Williamson also worked on the Health , Education , Labor and Pensions Committee as part of the labor counsel for Chairman Tom Harkin in 2014 and joined MSHA for the first time during the Obama administration as key advisor to Assistant Secretary Joe Main . Before stepping into his current position with MSHA , Williamson also briefly worked as a labor lawyer with the National Labor Relations Board .
“ I learned a lot of things that have allowed me to hit the ground running in my position now ,” he says . “ Having that background and experience with labor management relations and believing in labor management relations and knowing that most issues can be worked through when people get together in good faith and discussion . Just really believing in , understanding and prioritizing that process and the relationships with the representatives of our employees has been really important in my capacity to serve as the agency head .”
Created in 1978 from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 — more commonly known as the Mine Act — MSHA ’ s primary goal is to reduce the number of deaths , injuries and illnesses in all mines across the nation . MSHA is organized into nine major program areas , all with unique , yet equally important responsibilities .
“ The 1977 Mine Act created MSHA and set up the modern framework for which we enforce the Mine Act ,”
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