CSE SR 100 SCSR Units with Difficult to Remove Top and Bottom Covers

NIOSH Respirator User Notice

Issue Date: November 5, 2010

From: Heinz Ahlers, Chief, Technology Evaluation Branch, National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory

Subject: CSE SR 100 SCSR Units with Difficult to Remove Top and Bottom Covers

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in conjunction with the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), is conducting an investigation concerning difficulty in removing the top and bottom covers on CSE Corporation’s SR 100 self-contained self-rescuer (SCSR). The NIOSH Long Term Field Evaluation (LTFE) program has identified some SR 100 units with end covers that can be extremely difficult to remove, particularly units manufactured between October 2008 and December 2008.

Mine workers need to be familiar with the manufacturer’s procedures to remove a top or bottom cover that cannot be easily removed once the security band has been released. An SCSR with extremely difficult to remove covers should be set aside and the mine worker should get a secondary SCSR because this may provide the quickest protection.

The MINER Act of 2006 requires that caches of additional SCSR units be readily available in all underground coal mines.

NIOSH and MSHA will provide an update of this investigation when more information becomes available.

CSE SR 100 SCSR Units with Difficult to Remove Top and Bottom Covers [PDF – 32 KB]