MORGANTOWN — The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration on Friday proposed a more stringent silica dust exposure rule to protect miners. The United Mine Workers of America and Sen. Joe Manchin are both celebrating.
An MSH fact sheet explains the need for the updated rule. It says respirable crystalline silica (silica dust) is an occupational carcinogen that puts workers at risk for developing preventable, severe diseases including: silicosis; non-malignant respiratory diseases (e.g., emphysema and chronic bronchitis); lung cancer; and kidney disease. Exposure to mixed coal mine dust containing silica dust can lead to the development of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (black lung), progressive massive fibrosis, and multi-dust pneumoconiosis.
“Each of these illnesses is chronic, irreversible, and potentially disabling or fatal,” MSHA says.
MSHA’s current standard for metal/nonmetal (MNM) mines is 100 micrograms per cubic meter of air for a full-shift exposure — meaning an eight-hour time weighted average.
For coal mines, there is no separate standard for silica dust. Coal miners’ exposures to respirable quartz are regulated through reductions in the overall respirable coal mine dust standard.
MSHA’s proposed new standard would match the Occupational Safety and Health Administration standard adopted in 2016: for both MNM and coal mines, 50 micrograms per cubic meter for a full-shift exposure.
MSHA also proposes to establish an action level matching OSHA’s: 25 micrograms per cubic meter across a full shift. When miners’ exposure is above the proposed action level but below the permitted exposure limit of 50 micrograms, the proposed rule would require mine operators to conduct periodic sampling until miners’ exposures are below the action level.
The proposed rule also includes medical surveillance requirements for MNM miners, modeled on existing medical surveillance requirements for coal miners. “Medical surveillance would provide maximum health protection for miners and provide MNM miners with information needed for early detection of respirable crystalline silica-related disease, reducing risk of substantial disability.”
MSHA said after the proposed rule’s publication in the Federal Register, it will welcome public comments and announce dates for upcoming public hearings in Arlington, Va., and Denver. The hearings will be open for in-person or online participation.
Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Chris Williamson said, “The purpose of this proposed rule is simple: prevent more miners from suffering from debilitating and deadly occupational illnesses by reducing their exposure to silica dust. Silica overexposures have a real-life impact on a miner’s health.”
He continued, “Miners like a crusher operator at a California sand and gravel mine or a roof bolter in a West Virginia coal mine should never be forced to choose between preserving their health and providing for themselves and their families. This proposed rule furthers the Mine Act’s clear instruction to prioritize miners’ health.”
UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts said, “This is a good day for miners, although it has been a long time coming. … Workers in other industries have long been protected from excessive exposure to silica dust, but miners were not, even though they work in an environment where silica dust is encountered daily. It was a travesty that the government had never taken steps to protect them. But now it finally has.
“This day would also not have come,” he said, “without the medical professionals who did study after study highlighting the dangers of silica dust, the legislators and their staff who tirelessly advocated for action, the Black Lung Association and other groups who have been making their voices heard for so long, and the workers at Black Lung clinics all over the nation who have provided care and comfort for the victims of this disease.”
Roberts said this is only the beginning, however.
“But this fight is far from over,” he said. “This is the first step of many that will be required. We must get this rule finalized as soon as possible. And then, we must ensure that mine operators follow the rule, the government enforces it and penalizes those who violate it. We must remain vigilant until the day comes when no miner contracts this disease and we can finally say we have wiped out Black Lung for good.”
Manchin joined with Democratic senators from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia in a statement praising MSHA’s proposal.
“We applaud the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s new proposed silica rule to enhance health protections for miners across the country,” they said. “We urge swift implementation of this rule because protecting our hard-working miners from dangerous levels of silica cannot wait. After decades of declining rates of black lung deaths, we have seen the number of reported cases rapidly increase over the last 20 years — especially in Appalachia.
“America’s coal miners have risked their lives to power our great nation for generations,” they said, “and we are committed to using every tool possible to protect miners from developing debilitating diseases that are entirely preventable.”
TWEET David Beard @dbeardtdp
EMAIL dbeard@dominionpost.com
