The SBA Office of Advocacy has scheduled a Small Business Labor Safety Roundtable for Wednesday, August 30, 2023, from 1 PM – 2:30 PM ET to discuss the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) proposed Lowering Miners’ Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica and Improving Respiratory Protection (“Respirable Crystalline Silica”) rule.
MSHA’s proposed rule would amend MSHA existing standards for occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica and improve respiratory protection for all airborne hazards. MSHA has preliminarily determined that under existing standard miners at metal/nonmetal mines and coal mines face a risk of material impairment of health or functional capacity from exposure to respirable crystalline silica. MSHA proposes to set the permissible exposure limit of respirable crystalline silica at 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air (mg/ m3) for a full shift exposure, calculated as an 8-hour time-weighted average, for all miners. MSHA’s proposal would also include other requirements to protect miner health, such as exposure sampling, corrective actions to be taken when miner exposure exceeds the permissible exposure limit, and medical surveillance for metal and nonmetal miners. Furthermore, the proposal would replace existing requirements for respiratory protection and incorporate by reference ASTM F3387–19 Standard Practice for Respiratory Protection.
To attend, send an email Bruce Lundegren at bruce.lundegren@sba.gov to receive the MS Teams web access/call in information.
Roundtable meetings are open to all interested persons and are intended to facilitate an open and frank discussion about issues of interest to small business. These meetings are off the record and not intended for press purposes. Direct quotations of presenters or attendees may not be used without direct written approval of the person(s) making the statement. All press inquiries should be sent to David Tokarz at david.tokarz@sba.gov. Agendas and presentations are available to all.