On Wednesday, July 19, 202, Nicholas Scala presented a webinar covering a Review of MSHA’s Proposed Rule for Respirable Crystalline Silica.
On July 13, 2023, MSHA published its proposed rule Lowering Miners’ Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica and Improving Respiratory Protection in the Federal Register. This long-awaited rule proposes to substantially reduce the permissible exposure level for Respirable Crystalline Silica in the mining industry and proposes substantial new requirements on operators such as mandated testing and documented evaluation, along with the prohibition of some administrative controls for compliance.
As such, our webinar covering Mid-Year MSHA Update and FMSHRC Significant Decision Review focused solely on MSHA’s just published proposed rule on respirable crystalline silica.
This webinar reviewed Continue reading
The line in the sand is largely drawn out in a 1979 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the agencies, but that document leaves many questions outstanding. While some of these have been answered by the court system – including OSHRC and FMSHRC – many times questions or jurisdiction live in a very grey space.
While mine operators and mining contractors are likely used to MSHA conducting on-site safety and health inspections, when a serious incident occurs, the MSHA investigation takes a different approach. Seasoned mine operations are often caught off-guard by the depth of the investigation after a serious incident and are at times taken aback by the tone of the investigation – usually conducted by unfamiliar MSHA personnel from other areas in the district and management and non-management employee interviews will be central to the investigation. MSHA is also likely to issue a 103(K) Order, essentially shutting down the area or equipment subject to the incident, and the Order can stay in place for months, leaving the operator in a loss position.
With 2022 behind us, now is the time to take stock of the state of MSHA as the Biden Administration enters its third year. MSHA’s senior political leadership is now in place, and with that, we expect to see MSHA’s true agenda for rulemaking and enforcement take shape and be put into action.
