Practices for Mine Dust Control are Described in Comprehensive NIOSH Handbook

Contact: Fred Blosser (202) 401-3749
September 24, 2003

A new, comprehensive handbook on dust control in mines, based on 30 years of research findings and experience, is available from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

“Handbook for Dust Control in Mining” offers guidance on practical, effective methods for dust control in mines. The guidance reflects scientific consensus on the best practices for overcoming the complex challenges of controlling coal dust, silica dust, and other forms of dust in mines that cause coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, silicosis, and other serious and potentially fatal lung diseases in miners.
The first chapter deals solely with dust control methods, irrespective of the application. It serves as a brief tutorial on mining dust control, and helps the reader whose dust control problem does not conveniently fit any of the mining equipment niches described in subsequent chapters.
In the subsequent chapters, dust control methods are described for specific mines and mining equipment:

• underground coal
• hard rock mines
• surface mines
• stone mines
• hard rock tunnels

Because dust sampling presents many challenges, a chapter on methods used to sample dust is included. For those occasions when no practical means exist to reduce dust at the source using only engineering controls, a chapter on respirators is provided.
A copy of the handbook (NIOSH publication No. 2003-147) may be obtained by calling 1-800-35-NIOSH (1-800-356-4674). The handbook is also available online (Link updated 12/14/2009).