For clients and friends of Jackson Kelly PLLC
Volume 11, Number 5
©2015 Jackson Kelly PLLC
On February 25, 2015, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) hosted a stakeholder meeting and webinar for the Coal and Metal/Nonmetal mining communities.
During the first portion of the meeting, Assistant Secretary, Joe Main, unveiled two new online “web tools” the public can access on MSHA’s website. The first web tool was a “Rules to Live By Calculator” that will show mine operators how their compliance with “Rules to Live By Standards” measure in comparison to the national average. Similar to the online POV tool, the “Rules to Live By Calculator” allows date-specific searches to be conducted using mine identification numbers and provides a percentage of violations issued under the “Rules to Live By” category. If the number is below the national average, the percentage will be shown in green, but if the number is above the national average the number will be red. To access the “Rules to Live By Calculator” please click the following link: https://www.msha.gov/drs/rlb-violations-calculator.asp.
The second online tool, the “Part 75 Exam Rule Calculator,” is particular only to the underground coal sector. The “Part 75” calculator functions like the “Rules to Live By” calculator but focuses on the nine enumerated standards listed in the examination standards promulgated in 2012 instead of the “Rules to Live By” standards. The tool provides date-specific data for a particular mine using the mine ID and compares that number to the national average. And like the above, percentages are either green or red based on whether the operator’s number is below or above the national average. To access the Part 75 Exam Rule Calculator, please click the following link: https://www.msha.gov/drs/Part75ExamRule-calculator.asp.
Metal/Nonmetal
Following the introduction of the online web tools, MSHA broke into two sessions – one for Coal stakeholders and another for Metal/Nonmetal stakeholders. The metal and non-metal session primarily addressed concerns related to fatalities, “near misses” and other serious accidents that occurred in the industry from September 2013 through December 2014. Each incident was discussed and analyzed with an eye toward potential prevention and safety improvement measures. The classifications for the types of accidents included: powered haulage, electrical, machinery, falls, roof falls, falling, rolling and sliding material, inundation, hand tools, exploding vessels, and fire. MSHA suggested certain best practices for operators and miners to follow in order to prevent many of the types of accidents discussed. The agency recommended improved training efforts (specifically task training and new employee training), better examinations of work areas, enforcement of lock-out/tag-out procedures, performance of pre-operational checks, proper maintenance of mobile equipment, wearing seatbelts, using fall protection and assurance of adequate guarding, among others.
MSHA also discussed operator workplace examination practices (30 C.F.R. §§ 56/57.18002) and underscored the importance of following the Program Policy Manual (PPM) and the Program Policy Letter (PPL) that MSHA insisted were designed to clarify the recordkeeping guidelines of examination documents.
The CORESafety Initiative from the National Mining Association’s website was proposed as a resource for operators to develop enhanced safety practices. Also, Assistant Secretary Main pointed out that MSHA has updated a number of training models and established more easily accessible resources for operators to accomplish the goal of implementing the best practices proposed.
Coal
The coal session focused primarily on implementation of Phase II of the newly promulgated dust rule that limits the existing standards for miners' occupational exposure to respirable coal mine dust. Former MSHA Coal District 5 District Manager, Greg Meikel, provided an overview of sample results for Phase I of the rule. In total, 29,941 samples have been taken as of January 31, 2015. Out of the 29,941 samples, operators took approximately 15,289 samples and approximately 14,652 samples were taken by MSHA. Out of the operator samples, 260 were over the limit while only 78 MSHA samples were over the limit. The 215 of 260 non-compliant operator samples were designated occupation samples while 20 out of 78 MSHA non-compliant samples were designated occupation samples. These non-compliant samples were based on the current 2.0 mg/m3 standard rather than 1.5 mg/m3 proposed by the new rule. When asked what the percentage of samples that would have failed under the reduced 1.5 mg/m3 standard, Assistant Secretary Main said that the number was approximately 3%.
MSHA next discussed the use of Continuous Personal Dust Monitors (“CPDM”), which MSHA purports to provide real-time cumulative dust concentration readings. Although the new CPDMs are not yet available to the public, MSHA provided a timeline for implementation and training for the use of CPDMs. MSHA will provide training to internal personnel on March 24-25, 2015. On April 6-10, 2015, there will be another MSHA certification to district members regarding the use and care of the new CPDMs. On May 1, 2015, MSHA proposes to hold its first industry certification. MSHA asked that only those industry members expected to work directly with the use or maintenance of the CPDMs seek certification at that time. MSHA estimated that this number was expected to be approximately 1,700, although at least one caller suggested it would be as many as three times that amount. More information pertaining to the May 1, 2015, classes will be posted on MSHA’s website in the future.
MSHA also discussed holding future “best practices” workshops for reducing dust. The next three workshops are as follows:
March 31, 2015: Birmingham, AL
April 2, 2015: Evansville, IN
May 13, 2015: Grand Junction, CO
Next, questions from the audience pertaining to rockdusting and its impact on the use of CPDMs led to a discussion about MSHA’s plans to perform testing or “projects” to see what affect rockdust has on the use/results of the CPDM. Bruce Watzman of the National Mining Association expressed concern that current rockdusting standards and the development of new hydrophobic rock dust will skew results of the CPDMs since the device does not differentiate between inert dust and coal dust. See https://www.coalage.com/features/3948-development-of-a-new-hydrophobic-rock-dust.html#.VPB4mhscTGgu. MSHA provided no specifics regarding protocols for addressing industry concerns.
At the close of the meeting, MSHA addressed the April 2015 proposed deadline for proximity detection on other equipment besides continuous mining machines, by stating that the deadline will not be met. Additionally, MSHA has proposed a “Request for Information” pertaining to the use of refuge alternatives. Finally, Assistant Secretary Main in recognizing that his tenure will eventually end wants to increase emphasis on face ventilation and development of SCSRs that “let miners talk and breath at the same time.”
We will continue to monitor any of the new developments or issues discussed above.
This article was authored by Patrick W. Dennison, Jackson Kelly PLLC. For more information on the author, click here.
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH PRACTICE GROUP
Denver, Colorado
Responsible Attorney
Kristin R.B. White
(303) 390-0006
For more information, contact:
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Laura E. Beverage (303) 390-0003 |
Karen L. Johnston (303) 390-0008 |
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R. Henry Moore (412) 434-8801
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Michael T. Cimino (304) 340-1000 |
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