New Silica Exposure Enforcement Initiative Launches

In brief

Effective immediately a new MSHA silica exposure enforcement initiative will require spot inspections, increased oversight, and expanded sampling.

In detail

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) today launched a new enforcement initiative to better protect against health hazards associated with repeated overexposure to respirable crystalline silica (“silica”). This program is effective immediately while MSHA continues its process to develop a mining industry standard.

As part of the enforcement initiative MSHA will begin to conduct silica dust-related inspections and sampling, while providing mine operators with compliance assistance and best practices to limit exposure to silica dust. Specifically, the new enforcement initiative will include:

• Increased oversight and enforcement of known silica hazards at mines with previous citations for exposure to silica dust levels over the existing permissible exposure limit of 100 micrograms;

• Spot inspections at mines with a history of repeated silica overexposures to closely monitor and evaluate health and safety conditions;

• Where an operator has not timely abated known silica hazards, MSHA will issue a 104(b) withdrawal order until the silica overexposure hazard has been abated;

• Expanded silica sampling to ensure inspectors’ samples represent the mines, commodities, and occupations known to have the highest risk for overexposure, and a focus on sampling during periods of the mining process that present the highest risk of silica exposure;

• MSHA staff will provide compliance assistance and outreach to mine operators, unions, and other mining community organizations to promote and advance silica exposure protections, and will also remind miners about their rights to report hazardous health conditions, including any attempt to tamper with the sampling process.

Program details are here. Everview can assist clients to ensure compliance with this initiative and other MSHA programs.