Welcome to the September edition of CORESafety TV — the online video program from the National Mining Association.

One of mining’s greatest hazards is the exposure to elevated levels of toxic aerosols, including respirable crystalline silica.

Exposure may potentially cause adverse health effects such as silicosis, nonmalignant respiratory diseases, lung cancer and renal disease.

In August 2023, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) held three public hearings to solicit input on a recently proposed standards rule that would better protect miners from these potential health effects related to silica exposure.

The proposed MSHA rule is called Lowering Miners’ Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica and Improving Respiratory Protection.

The rule would set the permissible exposure limit of respirable crystalline silica at 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air (μg/m3) for a full shift exposure, calculated as an 8-hour time weighted average, for all miners.The proposal also includes other requirements to protect miner health and updates the Agency’s existing respiratory protection requirements.

This month on CORESafety TV, we revisit an exposure monitoring story with interviews from CORESafety member company Peabody and another company that had been developing a real-time solution for minute-by-minute testing of dust samples – Applied Particle Technology (APT).

This episode originally aired in February 2021 on CORESafety TV. Since then, Peabody and APT have continued to partner on some additional industrial hygiene (IH) projects.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• CORESafety TV (September 2023 episode) – click here.
• CORESafety TV (August 2023 episode) – go here.
• MSHA News Release  – click here.
• MSHA Proposed Rule – Lowering Miners’ Exposure – go here.
• CORESafety website – go here.
• Peabody Website – go here.
• Applied Particle Technology – go here.