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MSHA issues final rule on lowering miners’ exposure to respirable coal dust

By Heather Gravning posted 04-28-2014 02:32 PM

  
On April 23, MSHA issued a final rule to lower miners' exposure to respirable coal mine dust in all underground and surface coal mines. The final rule, that will be phased in over a two year period, reduces the overall dust standard from 2.0 to 1.5 milligrams per cubic meter of air and cuts in half the standard from 1.0 to 0.5 for certain mine entries and miners with pneumoconiosis; requires immediate action when dust levels are high; requires more frequent sampling of areas known to have relatively high dust levels; changes the method of averaging dust samples; requires sampling for the full shift a miner works; for MSHA-collected samples, MSHA will issue a citation for any single, full-shift sample at or exceeding the citation level; requires dust samples to be taken when mines are operating at 80 percent of production; and improves medical surveillance of miners.

Read the ruling at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2014-09084.pdf

MSHA will hold field seminars (http://www.msha.gov/endblacklung/) in coal mining regions to provide a comprehensive review of the new requirements to underground and surface coal operators. Training will be provided to MSHA coal mine safety and health enforcement personnel within five weeks of the promulgation of the final rule. All training materials will be available on MSHA's website at www.msha.gov.
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