Exposure to silica dust can cause a variety of serious chronic and irreversible health effects, including silicosis, lung cancer, and kidney disease. To help reduce miners’ exposure to harmful silica dust, the Mine Safety and Health Administration issued new regulations for controlling and monitoring exposure to respirable silica at coal, metal and nonmetal mines.

Mine operators can protect their miners from serious health issues and stay compliant with these new regulations using air monitoring solutions from Teledyne. These solutions offer precise, real-time monitoring of your mine site with minimal operation costs.

Millions of workers are exposed to airborne silica dust at their job sites, putting their health at risk, but research shows that “reducing overexposure to respirable silica dust is possible” and can help protect the health of mine workers. To help reduce exposure, the final rule from the MSHA:

• Lowers the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air (µg/m3) for a full shift, calculated as an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) for all miners;
• Establishes an action level for respirable crystalline silica at 25 µg/m3 for a full shift, calculated as an 8-hour TWA for all miners;
• Includes uniform requirements for controlling and monitoring exposures to respirable crystalline silica at coal and metal and nonmetal (MNM) mines;
• Includes medical surveillance requirements for MNM mines, modeled on the existing medical surveillance requirements for coal mines; and
• Updates existing respiratory protection requirements by incorporating by reference a voluntary consensus standard by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) that reflects the latest advances in respiratory protection technologies and practices – ASTM F3387-19 Standard Practice for Respiratory Protection.

The final rule took effect on June 17, 2024. Coal mine operators have 12 months to come into compliance with the final rule’s requirements while MNM mine operators have 24 months to come into compliance (including medical surveillance).

Protect your miners from overexposure to silica dust and get ahead of these new regulations today by scheduling a demo of one of our Teledyne monitoring solutions. Give us a call today at (801) 716-7777.