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Respirable Coal Dust Rule Nets Positive Results Adapted from a Press Release by MSHA One year ago, the landmark respirable dust rule went into effect, adding a number of increased protec- tions for coal miners and closing several loopholes that led to exposure of unhealthy coal mine dust. Respirable dust sampling results for the first year of the rule show compliance is achievable and, more importantly, the na- tion’s coal miners are better protected from black lung than ever before. The respirable dust rule is the culmination of MSHA’s (U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration’s) End Black Lung - Act Now Campaign, which began in late 2009, and called renewed attention to a disease which has caused or contributed to the deaths of 76,000 coal miners since 1968. Nearly 62,000 dust samples were collected from surface and underground coal mines by MSHAand coal mine operators, and only 1.1% exceeded the dust con- centration limit. MSHA alone collected nearly 30,000 samples at 330 underground and approximately 900 surface mines and facilities. “While some insisted that mines would be unable to comply with the requirements of the rule, sampling re- sults have proved that assumption is incorrect,” said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. “At long last, we have a rule that fulfills the intent of Congress when it passed the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 - to eradicate black lung once and for all.” In preparation for Phase II, MSHA is hosting a series of stakeholder outreach meetings so mine operators have ample time to adjust to the new requirements. Beginning February 1, 2016, continuous personal dust monitors, or CPDMs, must be used to monitor underground coal mine occupations exposed to the highest respirable dust concentrations, as well as all miners with evidence of black lung. Unlike the current device, which requires dust collected on a cassette be sent to labs for analysis (a process which can take days or weeks to receive results), these new, state-of-the-art devices provide miners and mine operators with dust exposure results in real time during the miner’s shift. The rule’s increased sampling fre- quency provisions also will go into effect at this time. For high-exposure occupa- tions, 15 valid samples must be obtained on consecutive shifts every quarter, in- stead of the five samples previously col- lected either on consecutive days or on consecutive shifts every two months. Finally, operators must post results of CPDM sampling within 12 hours of the sampled shift, and miners with evidence of black lung must be given a copy of the sample data within the first hour of the miner’s next work shift. “The use of the new, cutting-edge CPDMs provides for real-time dust level readings and allows corrective actions to take place more quickly. This, along with increased sampling frequency and the protections already in place, will help rid the coal mining industry of this terrible dis- ease and protect our miners,” said Main. #2 2)& )&0#2.- .2&+ .-'&0&-$& &-2&0 &% &&0 #-#%# &#%1 3/ #71 #4& )#-(&% /0*+ & 30& !. .*- "1 -$& (#*- - &% &&0 .0 .0& -'.0,#2*.- .-2#$2 #0.+ #01.- ).-& 8 ,#*+ #55%# 6/+.0-&2 $., 14 JANUARY 2016 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®