Regulating Exposure to Health

Hazards
Approaches in Mining

Janet Bertinuson
U.S. Department of Labor
Mine Safety and Health Administration
 The Role of Law
 Traditionally, the central policy mechanism
invoked by government to achieve its goals in
areas of social policy has been the law.
 More specifically, the favoured mechanism
has been 'command and control‘ government
regulation, whereby legislatures proscribe
certain behaviour and set up a regulatory
agency to monitor and police compliance with
the legal standards.
Gunningham, Neil, 1993. Thinking about Regulatory Mix: Regulating Occupational
Health and Safety, Futures Markets and Environmental Law.
Responsibility for Regulation
Occupational health and safety regulations are
set in the U.S. at the federal level by two
agencies within the Department of Labor:
 Occupational Safety and Health

Administration (OSHA) is responsible for

general occupational environments
 Mine Safety and Health Administration (

MSHA) is responsible for mining

 Some History
 As early as 1865, the need for regulation to address the
dangers associated with mining was recognized when a
proposal for a federal mining bureau was submitted to
Congress. Forty-five years later, after more than 13,000
miners were killed in U.S. coal mines during a five-year
period, Congress passed the Organic Act of 1910, which
created the Bureau of Mines. The bureau's initial efforts
dealt primarily with safety issues, although health was
addressed as well.

Fisher, Brandy, 1998. Between a Rock and a Hard Place.

Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 106, Number 11, November 1998
History
 November 1968 - an
explosion in Farmington,
West Virginia killed 78
coal miners.
 In 1969, the Federal
Coal Mine Health and
Safety Act was passed
(P.L. 91-173). It was the
first comprehensive
federal occupational
safety and health law.
PL 91 – 173 and Health
 In addition to addressing safety issues,
the Coal Act provided compensation for
coal miners who were completely and
permanently disabled by the respiratory
disease pneumoconiosis.
History: U.S. Mining Law
 Coal and metal and nonmetal industries were
then combined under one law--the Federal
Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977.
 Moved responsibilities for mining health and
safety from the Department of the Interior to
the Department of Labor. Created the Mine
Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to
establish and enforce safety and health
standards for all mines in the United States
The Act Provisions
Congress declares that:
 “The first priority and concern of all in the coal or

other mining industry must be the health and

safety of its most precious resource – the miner;”
 “..it is the purpose of this Act to establish interim

mandatory health and safety standards and to

direct the Secretary of Labor to promulgate
improved mandatory health or safety standards..”
 What Does the Law Say About Toxic
Materials or Harmful Physical Agents?
 The Secretary ..shall promulgate standards
“which most adequately assure on the basis of
the best available evidence that no miner will
suffer material impairment of health or
functional capacity even if such miner has
regular exposure to the hazards dealt with by
such standard for the period pf his working
life.”. . . for the period of his working lifetime“

Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 Title I, Section 101(a)(6)(A)
Health Regulations
 30 CFR 56/57.5001(a): requires that air
contaminant exposures not exceed the
1973 ACGIH (the American Conference of
Governmental Industrial Hygienists) TLVs.
 The TLVs set by ACGIH are developed as
recommendations or guidelines for
exposures to chemical substances. They
are incorporated by reference into 30 CFR.
 “Based on scientific research and
balanced against questions of
feasibility, occupational health
standards are designed to permit
persons to work for their entire working
lives without experiencing adverse
health effects caused by the regulated
substance.” (Paull 1984).
Health Regulations:
Components
 Exposure Limits
 Control
Approaches
 Health Regulations
 Monitoring
 Complimentary
Regulations – e.g.
housekeeping,
barriers, protective
clothing and
equipment
 Example: Chemical with a TLV-
Mercury
Under 30CFR .5001a - Exposure limits for airborne
contaminants :
 Full Shift Exposure limit - 50.0 µg/m3

 Short Term Exposure limit - 150.0 µg/m3 for 15

minutes.
 Other Applicable Regulations
 .5002 - Exposure
monitoring.
 .5005 - Control of
exposure to airborne
contaminants.
More Applicable Regulations
56.15006
 Special protective equipment and special

protective clothing shall be provided,

maintained in a sanitary and reliable
condition and used whenever hazards of
process or environment, chemical hazards,
radiological hazards, or mechanical irritants
are encountered in a manner capable of
causing injury or impairment.
 Mercury Hazards
Applicable Regulations
 .5001  .18002
 .5002  .20011
 .5005  .20014
 .14100b  Part 48, and Part 46
 .15006 as of October 1,
 .16003 2000.
 .16004
Other Health Regulations
 Asbestos has a separate standard (and
new proposed rule has been published)
 Requirement to withdraw employees if
a substance has a Ceiling value and it is
exceeded
 CFR: 56/57.5006
 Restricts use of
certain chemicals to BOOTH w/ SASH
use or storage only
by competent
persons under
approved laboratory
conditions.
 Includes substances
such as phenol,
benzidine
Performance Standards
 30 CFR 58.620, 72.620, 72.630 – Drill Dust
Control
 Require that effective dust control measures
be used (e.g., collaring or drilling wet,
permissible dust collectors, ventilation or
other approved method). The violation
occurs not because of overexposures, but
because the controls are not in place or are
not effective.
Examples: Comprehensive
Health Standards
These have gone through the full rule
making process as described in the Mine
Act
 Hazard Communication

 Diesel

 Noise

 Ionizing Radiation
Hazard Communication
 HazCom is an
information and training
standard.
 HazCom’s initial training
requirements in 30CFR
Part 47, and HazCom's
ongoing training
requirements are located
in Parts 46 and 48.
Haz Com – cont’d
 HazCom, expresses
two safety and
health principles:
miners have a right
to know about the
chemical hazards
where they work and
the mine operator
has a responsibility
to know about the
chemical hazards at
his/her mine.
Miners are informed of:
 The hazardous chemicals miners can
be exposed to
 Physical and health hazards of these

chemicals
 How miners can protect themselves

 The written HazCom program

HazCom Components
 Chemical Inventory
 MSDS
 Labels
 Training
 Diesel Emissions
 The emissions from diesel engines are a
complex mixture of compounds both gaseous
and solid. Diesel particulate matter (DPM) is
tiny - less than 1 µm in diameter. It has a
carbon core and a surface that adsorbs
polycyclic aromatic compounds that include
many known carcinogens. The engine type
and how it is maintained, the type of fuel,
and exhaust treatment devices will influence
the specific composition of the diesel exhaust.
 Diesel Equipment
 30 CFR Part 7, Subpart E -- Diesel engines
intended for use in underground coal mines
 30 CFR Part 7, subpart F -- Diesel power
packages intended for use in areas of
underground coal mines where permissible
electric equipment is required
 30 CFR Part 36 -- Approval requirements for
permissible mobile diesel-powered equipment
 30 CFR 70.1900 -- Exhaust gas monitoring (CO,
NO2)(coal)
Diesel Particulate
 MSHA published rules in the Federal
Register on January 19, 2001. These
rules deal with diesel particulate matter
exposure for underground miners in
both coal and metal/nonmetal mines.
 May 18, 2006 Final Rule

 Phases in final DPM PELs over two years

 308
EC µg/m - effective May 20, 2006
3

 350TC µg/m3 - effective January 20, 2007

 160TC µg/m3 - effective May 20, 2008
 1st step, 308EC µg/m3, is an EC limit
 2nd & 3rd steps are TC limits
 MSHA will initiate separate rulemaking to convert 160 TC
limits to comparable EC limits
EC – Elemental Carbon
TC – Total Carbon
EC X 1.3 = TC
 May 18, 2006 Final Rule

 Deletes provision restricting newer mines

from applying for Special Extension

 Effective August 16, 2006 - Medical

evaluation to determine miner's ability to
wear a respirator and transfer of miners
unable to wear a respirator
Noise Rule: Mine Safety and Health Administration’s
“Health Standards for Occupational Noise Exposure” (30
CFR Part 62)

 Technology-forcing rule
 primacy of engineering and administrative controls

 Retained the use of hearing protectors

 Monitoring and Audiometric testing as measures
 Only requires controls found to be feasible
 Determined on a case-by-case basis

 Exposure standards are protective

Noise Rule
 Requires mine operators to use all feasible
engineering and administrative controls to
reduce miners’ noise exposure to the
"permissible exposure level” (PEL). Hearing
protectors are not permitted in lieu of such
controls.
 Establishes an “action level” at 50% of the
PEL, at which miners must be enrolled in a
hearing conservation program (HCP).
 The final rule retains a PEL of an 8-hour
time-weighted average (TWA8) of 90
dBA, the same PEL as in the previous
MSHA noise standards. An “action
level” is established at a TWA8 of 85
dBA (50% of the PEL).
Hearing Conservation
 The HCP includes
provisions for assessing
miners’ noise exposure;
audiometric (hearing)
tests; hearing protectors;
training; and
recordkeeping.
 Mine operators must also
ensure that no miner is
exposed at any time to
sound levels exceeding
115 dBA.
 Continued Action on Noise
 Working together identify and develop
new noise control technology and
solutions
 Focus research efforts
 Leverage limited resources
 Communicate and share information
Ionizing Radiation
 30 CFR 57.5037 – 57.5047
 Exposure not to exceed 1 working level
(WL) in active workings
 No more than 4.0 WL in any calendar
year
 Annual individual gamma radiation
exposure shall not exceed 5 REMs.
 TYPES OF RADIATION
EXPOSURES
• Miners receive internal radiation from inhaling radon and
radon progeny.
• Miners can receive external exposures to alpha, beta and
gamma radiation emitted from uranium bearing rock.
• Several types of radiation are known but only alpha, beta and
gamma radiation are of importance so far as the health of the
miners are concerned.
 Monitoring Alpha Radiation
 Regulation also
requires annual
sampling of mines
where exposures
have exceeded 1 WL
in past (non uranium)
and quarterly for
uranium mines
Alpha Radiation Sampling Equipment
Enforcement and Health
Regulations
 Responsibility of MSHA Inspector:
authorized representative of the
Secretary of Labor
 The inspector's independent judgment
is an important element in making
significant and substantial findings,
which should not be circumvented" (pp.
825-26, National Gypsum)
Inspector Guidance – Enforcement of
Health Regulations
 The Act
 The Regulations
 MSHA Policy
 MNM – The Health Inspection
Procedures Handbook
MSHA’s Ultimate Measure of
Success

Home Healthy and Safe –

Every Shift, Every Day