Mining Safety and Health Research at NIOSH Reviews of Research Programs of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (2007) / Chapter Skim
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Part I: Programmatic Evaluation, 2 Description of the Mining Program
Part I: Programmatic Evaluation, 2 Description of the Mining Program
Pages 25-47
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Part I Programmatic Evaluation
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Mining Program is the only federal agency doing health and safety research for the mining industry. This chapter provides a description of the overall Mining Program in the context of the evaluation flow chart (Figure 1-1)
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Stakeholders identify the need to be responsive to impending or newly enacted regulations, and identify dust monitoring and control, noise-induced hearing loss prevention, diesel emissions control, and di TABLE 2-1 Causes of Mining Fatalities (2000-2004) Underground Mining Surface Mining Percentage of Percentage of Event Total Fatalities Event Total Fatalities Ground failure 28 Powered haulage 37 Powered haulage 21 Machinery 25 Machinery 17 Slip, trip, and fall 14 Explosions 16 Electrical 10 Other 8 SOURCE: NIOSH, 2005a.
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Potentially dangerous incidents not resulting in injuries 7. Hazards Using this approach, the Mining Program identifies respiratory disease prevention, hearing loss prevention, repetitive or cumulative musculoskeletal injury prevention, traumatic injury prevention, disaster prevention, and ground failure prevention as the areas of greatest research need (NIOSH, 2005a)
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The four traditional areas of mining health and safety research -- respiratory disease prevention, traumatic injury prevention, ground failure prevention engi neering, and disaster prevention -- account for more than 56 percent of funding, 60 percent of FTEs, and 70 percent of projects. Problems in these four areas are as old as mining itself and have commanded tremendous attention in the past.
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of Funding FTEs of FTEs Projects of Projects dollars) Funding Respiratory disease 4.6 15 38 14 14 20 1,117 17 prevention Noise-induced hearing loss 3.1 10 25 10 7 10 855 13 prevention Repetitive or cumulative 2.0 7 20 8 4 6 150 2 musculoskeletal injury prevention Traumatic injury prevention 4.1 13 37 14 11 15 660 10 Mine disaster prevention and 3.9 12 38 14 14 20 480 7 control Ground failure prevention 4.8 16 46 18 11 15 647 10 Surveillance, training, and 3.6 12 30 11 10 14 951 14 intervention effectiveness Multiple goalsb 4.5 15 28 11 -- -- 1,805 27 Total 30.6 100 262 100 71 100 6,665 100 aAmounts and percentages have been independently rounded to the nearest numbers as appropriate.
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The committee is concerned the knowledge and experience needed to conduct high quality disaster prevention research may be compromised without timely hiring and training of new personnel. Increased funding for respiratory disease prevention research is appropriate in view of emerging issues associated with diesel particulate matter in coal, metal, and nonmetal mines and activities associated with use of the personal dust moni tor (discussed in Chapter 8)
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The health laboratory facilities at both PRL and LLL are excellent and world class. The Mining Program has excellent facilities for research on noise-induced hearing loss prevention.
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It is worth noting that some Mining Program contributions to safe equipment design, mine design practices and procedures, operational guidelines, and measur ing instruments would not have resulted without its access to unique research fa cilities. With respect to safety research, ground failure prevention research facilities at PRL, particularly the Mine Roof Simulator, are regarded as having contributed to a better understanding of the interaction of mine roof and supports and to the development of more effective roof support design.
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The committee heard from representatives of mining companies, labor, equipment manufacturers, individuals who provide training services, and federal and state government agencies having jurisdiction over some aspect of health and safety in the mining industry. The Mining Program and MSHA The 1977 Federal Mine Safety and Health Act created the Mine Safety and Health Administration in the Department of Labor to carry out the enforcement, rulemaking, training, and technical assistance functions of the act.
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With closure of the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1995 and permanent transfer of mine health and safety research to NIOSH in 1997, MHRAC evolved into the Mine Safety and Health Research Advisory Committee (MSHRAC)
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The appointment of a single manager for both the Mining and the Construction Programs was described during a presentation by the director of NIOSH as a starting point for improving intra-agency interaction, although it was also pointed out that the programs remain separate and distinct. The Mining Program would benefit from increased interaction with other NIOSH programs including those within the Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, the Division of Safety Research, and the Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies.
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In the course of conducting specific research, Mining Program investigators have collected their own limited surveillance data on dust, diesel particulate matter, and noise exposure, and on musculoskeletal disorders. These data serve several functions, including validating research hypotheses and measuring the effectiveness of control actions.
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from R&D Magazine. The awards cover research in respiratory disease prevention, traumatic injury prevention, ground failure prevention, mine disaster prevention, musculoskeletal disorder prevention, surveillance and training, and technology transfer.
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going to ensure that NIOSH-developed and supported innovations benefit mining safety and health. The committee suggests that more funding be dedicated to learning which r2p strategies are most effective in translating the products of NIOSH work to industry.
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Two technology transfer and training projects (1999-2004, 2005-2009) are the largest extramural projects and amount to approximately $1 million of the Mining Program budget per year.
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. Noise-induced hearing loss prevention and cumulative musculoskeletal disorder prevention are the top ics of 11 percent.
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The committee expects an increased number of outputs in noise-induced hearing loss prevention and cumulative musculoskeletal disorder prevention in future years, given the increased emphasis in these areas. The Mining Program appears to collectively direct its efforts toward the production of more and better research, essential to quality maintenance and recognition by international research organizations.
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Large operations usually involve extensive surface facilities, including preparation plants, mills, shops, and yards. While mining health and safety research may have some general applicabil ity to workers in these locations, the major focus of current research is generally on large coal mines.
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, the Mining Program is engaged in completing a National Survey of the Mining Population (see Table 14-2) that will ultimately enable the calculation of risk factors and experience-specific injury rates including those associated with vulnerable populations.
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It is important to define whether there is need for research to identify the problem's cause or the problem's solution. This is particularly true in the age-old areas of ground failure prevention, traumatic injury prevention, disaster prevention and control, and respirable disease preven tion.
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Major mine incidents with disaster potential, and mine disasters (e.g., the Quecreek No. 1 Mine non-fatal inundation incident, the Sago Mine explosion disaster)
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