NIOSH Alert: Request for Assistance in Preventing Silicosis and Deaths in Rock Drillers

Details

• Journal Article:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Personal Author:
  Musgrave, Karl J. ; Parker, John E.
• Description:
  NIOSH requested assistance in preventing silicosis in workers exposed to crystalline silica (14808607) during rock drilling. The Alert contained information concerning surface mining processes, silica exposure during surface mine drilling, current exposure limits, health effects of crystalline silica exposure (including chronic silicosis, accelerated silicosis, and acute silicosis), and four case reports. The case reports described 23 cases of silicosis resulting from exposure to crystalline silica during rock drilling, including two workers who died from silicosis. Recommendations for reducing exposure included assessing the potential for worker exposure to crystalline silica during removal of overburden; air monitoring to measure worker exposures; the use of control measures such a wet drilling and exhaust ventilation; practicing good personal hygiene; wearing washable or disposable protective clothes at the worksite; using respiratory protection; providing periodic medical examinations; posting warning signs; providing workers with training; and reporting all cases of silicosis to state health departments and to OSHA and MSHA. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Construction Industry Dust Environmental Monitoring Lung Diseases Miners Mining Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Silicosis

  More +
• Keywords:
  NIOSH-Author; Airborne-dusts; Air-quality-monitoring; Dust-exposure; Dust-inhalation; Mining-industry; Miners; Underground-miners; Respiratory-system-disorders; Lung-disease; Mineral-dusts; Occupational-exposure; Construction-Search
• Source:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 92-107, 1992 Aug; :1-15
• Series:
  NIOSH Numbered Publications
• Subseries:
  Alert
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  20 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00210897
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB93-136133
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Gregory Wagner, Director, Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, 944 Chestnut Ridge Road, Morgantown, West Virginia 26505-2888
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1992
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:37993435bec37b66d4bd90468bf73fd41bb0c8b0b5b3b430a6a5c6564c8942aa269c5bb55c1b9e07b830cad049c77e56d095cfaf2deb4faec844b5040a504c65
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/21286/cdc_21286_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 9.78 MB ]