PURPOSE:  The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 (as amended by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977) is intended to protect the health and safety of underground coal miners. The Act authorizes a program for early detection and prevention of coal workers' pneumoconiosis carried out by NIOSH in cooperation with the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). These activities are specified in the Federal Regulations, 42 CFR 37, "Specifications for Medical Examinations of Underground Coal Miners" and are administered through the Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program (CWHSP).

RESEARCH SUMMARY:  The CWHSP includes: certification of x-ray facilities; training, testing, and certification of physician readers (B Readers); classification of chest radiographs for pneumoconiosis; communication of individual examination results to miners; notification to miners with evidence of pneumoconiosis about options to transfer to low dust areas (Part 90); and provision of data to evaluate the respiratory health of underground coal miners. The CWHSP maintains a radiographic examination data base utilized by NIOSH for surveillance purposes and by researchers involved in developing strategies to reduce the incidence and progression of coal workers' pneumoconiosis.

During the early 1970s, one of every three miners examined in the program who had worked at least 25 years underground had radiographic evidence of pneumoconiosis. A recent analysis of over 25,000 miners who were examined from 1996 to 2002 indicates that the proportion of underground coal miners affected has greatly decreased, to about one in 20. However, recent analyses (including novel analyses of disease progression) also suggests that certain groups of miners - those who work in certain mining jobs, in smaller mines, in several geographic areas, and among contract miners - remain at elevated risk. These new findings are driving targeted assessments and preventive interventions, making more effective use of CWHSP data than has previously been done. A recent extension of the CWHSP, implemented by NIOSH in cooperation with MSHA, has been helpful in highlighting the continuing occurrence of pneumoconiosis among surface coal miners, who have not been eligible for the ongoing radiographic examination program mandated by Federal law.

Starting in FY06, in collaboration with MSHA, CWHSP enhancements will be implemented. A recently acquired Mobile Occupational Safety and Health Unit (see photo) is expected to help increase miner participation in programs for early detection of dust-related lung disease. Results are intended to facilitate preventive actions, through the derivation of representative current estimates of the burden, distribution, and determinants of occupational lung disease in relation to coal mining in the U.S.