Importance of research

Few major decisions in life are made without research. The future of our world depends on someone, or many someones, to do perform due diligence on an action and following through on hypotheses to determine how to best tackle something. It is no different for mining. Consider this: had it not been for many before us conducting research, today’s mines…

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NIOSH selects West Virginia site for new safety laboratory

United States Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia confirmed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will construct its new Underground Mine Safety and Health Research Program facility in the southern town of Mace, east of Charleston. Funding for the design and construction of the campus site…

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Recognizing excellence

It’s award season for many as the year comes to a close – but hearing about award-winning technology is always especially interesting, as many serve as a barometer for trends we as an industry will later see. One of the newest groups of awardees come from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Mining Program, which recently announced…

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Time is near for SME/PCMIA 2022

Annual October meeting returning to Pittsburgh host venue As this issue of NAM goes to press, final plans are being made for the annual joint meeting of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Society for Metallurgy, Mining and Exploration (SME) and the Pittsburgh Coal Mining Institute of America (PCMIA) for the 2022 meeting in Pittsburgh, Pa. Registration is advancing well for…

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NIOSH planning three-state black lung screening program

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is planning free, confidential black lung screenings to coal miners in August in Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia. Screenings are provided through the NIOSH mobile testing unit at convenient community and mine locations. All coal miners – current, former, underground, surface, and those under contract – are welcome to participate.   Participation…

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MSHA’s Proposed Mobile Haulage Rule – Let’s Look Under This Baby’s Hood

By Willa B. Perlmutter The latest big development in the MSHA regulatory space is a proposed rule that would require mine operators to develop and implement written programs that focus on improving the safety of surface mobile equipment. Back in 2018, because of the disproportionately high contribution of mobile equipment to mine fatalities, MSHA asked for input so it could…

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NIOSH focuses on respiratory protection

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine published a Consensus Study Report, Frameworks for Protecting Workers and the Public from Inhalation Hazards, to provide recommendations for the oversight and guidance of respiratory protection in the United States. Federal partners, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of State, as…

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NIOSH study finds inconsistent hearing protection use

A new study from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimates that more than half of noise-exposed workers didn’t use hearing protection “always” or “usually” when exposed to hazardous occupational noise. Hearing protection device (HPD) non-use was only measured in workers who reported exposure to noise on the job. 

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