Federal Agency Finally Protects Miners from Asbestos

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March 24, 2008

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has established stringent new rules designed to protect miners from exposure to asbestos. Over the last thirty years, research has proven that asbestos can be the cause of mesothelioma, a lethal form of cancer that usually attacks the lungs. The MSHA regulations were published in the Federal Register on February 29th of 2008.

The new rules are the direct result of a report from the office of the Inspector General, another federal agency that conducted a study of deaths from asbestos exposure among miners and their families in the town of Libby, Montana. The Inspector General’s report and suggestion to the MSHA occurred in 2005, and has prompted the MSHA to reduce allowable airborne asbestos exposure for miners by 95%.

The level of protection now being mandated for miners has existed for almost all other professions under rules established by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) some years ago. According to the Occupational Hazards online newsletter, the MSHA claims that there are very few mines operating today that generate asbestos exposure. Their tests show an extremely low percentage of operational mines that the agency has tested with asbestos exposure problems.

The problem with asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma is that the symptoms may not appear for decades after the initial exposure. That means generations of miners may have been exposed to deadly airborne asbestos fibers. Certainly that was the case in Libby Montana; the dangers of asbestos have been a public issue for thirty years. Surprisingly, the federal agency charged with protecting miners chose to wait until 2008 to pull its protective regulations into line with those afforded workers in nearly every other profession.

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