Tag Archives: cwp

Eye Protection, General Safety Issues, Hand Protection, Head Protection, Respiratory Safety

BLACK LUNG INVESTIGATION

Black lung disease is the common name for coal workers pneumoconiosis (CWP).  It once was a disease that affected coal miners over the age of 50;  however, investigations show that younger mine workers are developing the disease as well.  The name was given because inhalation of heavy deposits of coal dust makes miner lungs look black instead of a healthy pink.  Since the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, average dust levels have fallen.  The 1969 law also set up a black lung disability benefits program to compensate coal miners who have been disabled by on-the-job dust exposure.  

An investigation by the Center for Public Integrity and ABC News, (Brian Ross, Matthew Mosk, and Chris Hamby), brings up the terrible reality that many of America’s coal miners have been denied their black lung benefits.  Although they were diagnosed as having the disease by their primary doctor, a particular physician at Johns Hopkins University and Medical Center has reviewed more than 1,500 x-rays of claimants since 2000, and never identified a single case of black lung disease.  In many cases, it took the miner’s death, and an autopsy that followed, to prove what the miner claimed all along, that the cause of his diminishing health was brought on by the dust he breathed while working underground.  Johns Hopkins is reviewing its Black Lung Program.  The Center for Public Integrity also reviewed the work of one of the coal industry’s “go-to” law firms for black lung cases, finding instances in which the firm withheld evidence of the disease while fighting the miners’ claims. 

ABC News identified a group of specialists with affiliations who help the coal companies defeat the miners in numerous cases.  (The disability benefit is around $1,000 per month).  A corps of lawyers, doctors, and experts have helped these companies deny the benefit to workers they so desperately need to fight the disease, rather than legal and medical experts. 

ABC News featured “Black Lung, Out of Breath” on Wednesday night’s evening news with Diane Sawyer.  It also aired on “Nightline” later that evening. Hopefully,  public awareness will help support the cause of protecting the mine workers who become ill, and receive their benefits, as promised in that 1969 law. 

Unless one has worked in industries such as mining, oil fields, or any other occupation that produces the energy our country needs, (or other countries, as well), persons do not realize the hazards that are involved in this kind of work.  Let’s not take those workers for granted.  Even though they are equipped with respiratory protection, hard hats,  and all types of safety gear, through the years the accumulation of coal dust and other particulates in mines may take its toll. 

Note:  Johns Hopkins Medicine has suspended its black lung program pending a review in response to an ABC News investigation with the Center for Public Integrity that showed how medical opinions from doctors at the prestigious hospital have helped the coal companies thwart efforts by ailing mine workers to receive disability benefits. 

Source: ABC News, Center for Public Integrity

General Safety Issues, Respiratory Safety

BLACK LUNG ON THE RISE

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Almost one-half of the power used in the United States is generated by coal; more than 130,000 miners put their lives at risk to provide it. Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis (CWP) is caused by prolonged breathing of dust in coal mines.  Another name for CWP is Black Lung Disease.

Years ago, Congress ordered Black Lung to be eradicated from the coal industry, under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969.  This act was to protect miners by posing limits on exposure to dust, as well as adding increased benefits for families of coal miners.  For several years following this legislative enactment, the proportion of coal miners with Black Lung Disease went down.  However, in the last ten years, it is again on the rise.  Approximately 10,000 miners have died with CWP in the past decade, with younger workers developing severe and advanced cases.

Black Lung is a deadly, but preventable occupational disease.  It causes chronic coughing and shortness of breath.  Coal operators are required under the law to adhere to dust standards.  They have the necessary tools to control each miner’s exposure to respirable dust and silica.  Industries and miners must both ensure that control measures are applied and dust levels are accurately measured.

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, possible reasons that this disease is once more increasing are:

  • Inadequacies in mandated coal mine dust regulations;
  • Failure to comply with regulations;
  • Lack of disease measures to accommodate changes in mining practices brought about by depletion of richer coal reserves;
  • Effects of working longer hours in recent years;
  • Missed opportunities by miners to be screened and take action to reduce dust exposure.
  • New mining techniques and machinery that create more hazardous exposure to dust.

NIOSH also has set up mobile screening units that travel to locations where mining takes place and offer free x-rays, and other free health evaluations to miners.  When early disease is suspected, miners should request transfer to a job where there is less dust exposure.

A set of rules is being considered by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) that would require some miners to use a new technology, the continuous personal dust monitor.  These real-time monitors would allow the miners to know what they are exposed to and respond to it right away.  The cost is $10,000 per monitor, so it’s a pricey proposition.  However, mining-industry representative Bruce Watzman says the industry supports MSHA’s efforts.  “The statistics concern us.  We need to understand and address this problem.”  NIOSH states that the first priority to all men and women miners is their health and safety.