Air Sampling Programs to Deter Asbestos Risk for Miners

Read the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) report about the risk to miners. They are routinely exposed to carcinogens such as asbestos.

Suspected and potential health hazards may be reasonably and adequately evaluated by sampling the "maximum risk miner" in a work area or area of well defined exposure sources. The maximum risk miner is the one expected to have the greatest exposure of all of the miners in the area.

Other miners in the same work area or area of common exposure sources should experience lesser concentrations of occupational hazards than the maximum risk miner. A given work area may have more than one maximum risk miner when activities or operations are non-uniform or when multiple and varied exposure sources exist.

There is no single method for selecting the maximum risk miner in all mining operations and processes. A miner experiences high risk because of his or her work area (location) or work procedures (tasks). The following considerations may be used to help identify a maximum risk miner:
• Proximity of Contaminant Source: Observe the operation and select the miner or miners who are closest to the source of the hazardous material being generated. This guideline is applicable particularly when the exposed miner is stationary while performing work assignments. As the miner's distance from a contaminant source increases, the ambient air dilutes the contaminant. Examples of miners who generally work close to a contamination source are material baggers, crusher operators, welders, and vehicle operators.
• Frequency of Proximity to Contaminant Source: When miners are mobile in their various work tasks, observe the operation and select the miner or miners who spend the most time near the generation source of a hazardous material. Careful observation is required to determine the sources of a miner's exposure within the work environment.

Courtesy of http://www.msha.gov/S&HINFO/OPRSAMP/OPRSAMP.HTM

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