Evaluation of Thermal Displacement Ventilation in Contamination Purging Inside a 60-Person Built-in-Place Refuge Alternative (BIP RA) in an Underground Coal Mine

Author(s):  
Joseph Bickson ◽  
David Yantek ◽  
Justin Srednicki ◽  
Jacob Carr ◽  
Cory DeGennaro ◽  
...  

Abstract Federal regulations require the installation of refuge alternatives (RAs) in underground coal mines to ensure miners’ survivability after a fire or an explosion where escape is impractical or even impossible. Both fires and explosions can generate dangerous or even lethal levels of carbon monoxide (CO) in a mine. As part of their function, RAs must be able to isolate miners from a CO-contaminated mine environment and to purge any CO that might enter the RA as miners enter it. In 2018, researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted purging research in a built-in-place (BIP) RA with a borehole air supply by testing 12 different mixing ventilation system configurations (MVSCs). Recently, NIOSH researchers evaluated the use of a thermal displacement ventilation system configuration (TDVSC) to purge a 60-person BIP RA using a borehole air supply. As in previous research, NIOSH researchers tested the TDVSC with the flow rates of 750 SCFM and then 1,000 SCFM. For each of the flow rates, the results showed that the average purge time for the more expensive TDVSC is within two minutes of the average purge times of previously tested MVSCs. Manufacturers can use this information to not only pursue 30 CFR Part 7 approval from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), but also to determine the most practical method to purge contaminants inside RAs.

Author(s):  
Lincan Yan ◽  
David Yantek ◽  
Timothy Lutz ◽  
Jeffrey Yonkey ◽  
Justin Srednicki

Abstract In case of an emergency in an underground coal mine, miners who fail to escape from the mine can enter a refuge alternative (RA) for protection from adverse conditions, such as high carbon monoxide levels. One of the main concerns with the use of both portable and built-in-place (BIP) RAs, especially for hot or deep mines, is the interior temperature rise due to the occupants' metabolic heat and the heat released by devices such as the carbon dioxide (CO2) scrubbing system. The humidity within the RA will also increase through occupants' respiration and perspiration and from the chemical reaction within the CO2 scrubbing system. Heat and humidity buildup can subject the occupants to hazardous thermal conditions. To protect RA occupants, Mine Safety and Health Administration regulations mandate a maximum apparent temperature of 95 °F within an occupied RA. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) tested both an air-conditioned borehole air supply (BAS) and a cryogenic air supply for RAs in the NIOSH Experimental Mine in Bruceton, PA. The BAS was tested on a 60-person BIP RA, while the cryogenic air supply was tested on a 30-person BIP RA and a portable 23-person tent-type RA. Multiple tests were conducted with both air supplies to assess their ability to cool RAs. The test results show that the BAS and the cryogenic air supply were able to maintain the apparent temperature within the tested RAs under the 95 °F limit. The BAS and the cryogenic air supply are potential RA heat mitigation strategies that mines could use to prevent heat/humidity buildup within RAs.


Author(s):  
Lincan Yan ◽  
David Yantek ◽  
Pete Bissert ◽  
Mark Klein

Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) regulations require underground coal mines to use refuge alternatives (RAs) to provide a breathable air environment for 96 hrs. One of the main concerns with the use of mobile RAs is the heat and humidity buildup inside the RA. The accumulation of heat and humidity can result in miners suffering heat stress or even death. To investigate this issue, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted testing on a training ten-person, tent-type, RA in its Safety Research Coal Mine (SRCM) in a test area that was isolated from the mine ventilation system. The test results using sensible and latent heat showed that the average measured air temperature within the RA increased by 20.6°F (11.4°C) and the relative humidity approached 90 %RH. The test results were used to benchmark a thermal simulation model of the tested RA. The validated thermal simulation model predicted the average air temperature inside the RA, at the end of 96 hours, to within 1°F (0.6°C) of the measured average air temperature.


Author(s):  
Lincan Yan ◽  
David Yantek ◽  
Timothy Lutz ◽  
Jeffrey Yonkey ◽  
Justin Srednicki

In case of an emergency in an underground coal mine, miners who fail to escape from the mine can enter a refuge alternative (RA) for protection from adverse conditions, such as high carbon monoxide levels. One of the main concerns with the use of both portable and built-in-place (BIP) RAs, especially for hot or deep mines, is the interior temperature rise due to the occupants’ metabolic heat and the heat released by devices such as the carbon dioxide (CO2) scrubbing system. The humidity within the RA will also increase through occupants’ respiration and perspiration, and from the chemical reaction within the CO2 scrubbing system. Heat and humidity buildup can subject the occupants to hazardous thermal conditions. To protect RA occupants, Mine Safety and Health Administration regulations mandate a maximum apparent temperature of 95°F within an occupied RA. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) tested both an air conditioned borehole air supply (BAS) and a cryogenic air supply for RAs in the NIOSH Experimental Mine in Bruceton, PA. The BAS was tested on a 60-person BIP RA, while the cryogenic air supply was tested on a 30-person BIP RA and a portable 23-person tent-type RA. Multiple tests were conducted with both air supplies to assess their ability to cool RAs. The test results show that the BAS and the cryogenic air supply were able to maintain the apparent temperature within the tested RAs under the 95°F limit. The BAS and the cryogenic air supply are potential RA heat mitigation strategies that mines could use to prevent heat/humidity buildup within RAs.


Author(s):  
Gregory R. Wagner ◽  
Emily A. Spieler

This chapter discusses the roles of government in promoting occupational and environmental health, with a focus on the U.S. federal government. Governmental interventions, as described here, can range from non-regulatory interventions, such as dissemination of information or generation and communication of information, to establishing regulatory requirements through the promulgation and enforcement of standards and regulations. The chapter describes the U.S. laws and roles of the administrative agencies responsible for occupational and environmental health, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Noting the budgetary and political constraints on these federal agencies, the chapter goes on to discuss briefly the role of the public and the states. The government also plays a role when preventive efforts fail, and the chapter provides a brief summary of programs designed to provide compensation to injured workers.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-82
Author(s):  
George R. Cook

Occupational audiologists have a crisis in their profession and need advocates. These audiologists are primarily responsible for industrial hearing conservation programs and their compliance with multiple regulations, such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the Federal Railroad Administration.  Occupational hearing programs, for the most part, are multi-state programs as companies and corporations are national organizations. Also, companies may contract services across state lines as local services may not be desired or available. Individual state telepractice regulations require audiologists who are professionally supervising these programs via the internet and phone, to secure licensure in each state. For this licensure redundancy, the cost in time and tracking are enormous.  It is imperative that the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), secure multistate licensure for speech-language pathologists and audiologists. For the profession of occupational audiology, it is essential.Keywords: Licensure, Occupational audiologists, Telehealth, Telepractice


Author(s):  
Lincan Yan ◽  
David Yantek ◽  
Mark Klein ◽  
Peter Bissert

In 2008, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) published a final rule on Refuge Alternatives (RAs) for Underground Coal Mines [1]. The rule states that RAs should be “capable of sustaining trapped miners for 96 hours” and that RAs “can also be used to facilitate escape by sustaining trapped miners until they receive communications regarding escape options.” One of the main concerns with the use of RAs is heat and humidity buildup inside of them. The accumulation of heat and humidity could result in miners suffering heat stress or even death. MSHA regulations require that the apparent temperature in an occupied RA must not exceed 95°F. To investigate the thermal issues for occupied RAs, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted several tests on mobile RAs. In this paper, the test setup on a 6-person metal-type RA is described and the test results are presented. The test results show that the average measured air temperature within the RA increased by 9.0°C (16°F) and the relative humidity (RH) approached 91 %RH at the end of the 96-hour test. The test results were also compared to predictions from a thermal simulation model of the tested RA. The model predicted the average air temperature inside the RA at the end of 96 hours to within 0.4°C (0.8°F) of the average measured air temperature. Furthermore, two sets of test data with different heat inputs were used to cross-check the model validity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
pp. 622-628
Author(s):  
David Rosner ◽  
Gerald Markowitz

As this short history of occupational safety and health before and after establishment of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) clearly demonstrates, labor has always recognized perils in the workplace, and as a result, workers’ safety and health have played an essential part of the battles for shorter hours, higher wages, and better working conditions. OSHA’s history is an intimate part of a long struggle over the rights of working people to a safe and healthy workplace. In the early decades, strikes over working conditions multiplied. The New Deal profoundly increased the role of the federal government in the field of occupational safety and health. In the 1960s, unions helped mobilize hundreds of thousands of workers and their unions to push for federal legislation that ultimately resulted in the passage of the Mine Safety and Health Act of 1969 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. From the 1970s onward, industry developed a variety of tactics to undercut OSHA. Industry argued over what constituted good science, shifted the debate from health to economic costs, and challenged all statements considered damaging.


2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (6) ◽  
pp. 402-406
Author(s):  
Noemi B Hall ◽  
David J Blackley ◽  
Cara N Halldin ◽  
A Scott Laney

ObjectivesPneumoconiosis prevalence and severity among US coal miners has been increasing for the past 20 years. An examination of the current approaches to primary and secondary prevention efforts is warranted. One method of secondary prevention is the Mine Safety and Health Administration-administered part 90 option programme where US coal miners with radiographic evidence of pneumoconiosis can exercise their right to be placed in a less dusty area of the mine. This study focuses on characterising the progression of disease among US coal miners who participated in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-administered Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Programme (CWHSP) and exercised their part 90 job transfer option.MethodsChest radiograph classifications of working underground coal miners who exercised their part 90 job transfer option during 1 January 1986 to 21 November 2016 and participated in the CWHSP during 1 January 1981 to 19 March 2019 were analysed.Results513 miners exercised their part 90 option and participated in the CWHSP at least once during this time period. Of the 149 miners with ≥2 radiographs available, 48 (32%) showed progression after exercising part 90 and had more severe disease prior to exercising, compared with miners who did not progress (severity score of 2.8 vs 1.7, p=0.0002).ConclusionThe part 90 job transfer option programme is not routinely used as intended to prevent progression of pneumoconiosis among US coal miners. The one-third of miners who participated in part 90 and continued to progress, exercised their part 90 option at a later stage of disease compared with non-progressors.


1980 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 37-48
Author(s):  
M. T. Abell ◽  
D. D. Dollberg ◽  
J. V. Crable

The goal of the occupational health professions is ”… to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources” (Occupational Safety and Health Act, PL91-596). When the health of workers is threatened by chemical agents in the air, occupational health chemistry has a role to play. Analyses of workplace air are performed by the thousands each year by industry and by state and federal agencies. In the federal government, these analyses, as well as occupational health work in general, are performed by three agencies: the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, DHHS), which does occupational health research; the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA, DOL), which enforces safety and health standards in the general workplace; and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA, DOL), which enforces similar standards in mining operations.


2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 89-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas F. Scott

This case study provides an example of how social marketing was applied to meet the needs of business customers. Federal regulations require that all companies develop a written program to track hazardous chemicals at their sites. The HazComWriter, created by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), is a software tool designed to help companies prepare their required Hazard Communications (HazCom) written plan and list all hazardous chemicals at the company's worksite. The social marketing goal was to provide a product for small- to medium-sized companies to use for federal HazCom rule compliance. The HazComWriter is a direct NIOSH response to customer and stakeholder needs (including the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the mining community, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration-regulated companies).


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