Mining Project: Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program (CWHSP)

Research Summary

The Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program (CWHSP) was established under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, amended by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 and its subsequent amendments, and is administered through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Respiratory Health Division (RHD), Surveillance Branch (SB) in Morgantown, WV. The CWHSP offers medical surveillance at no cost to miners, including chest radiographs and spirometry.

Data collected by the CWHSP allows NIOSH to estimate of the burden of coal mine dust lung disease in the U.S. and provides miners with information about their respiratory health status, which can be used to inform decisions relating to their right to transfer to a less dusty work environment, when indicated.

Further information is available at the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance System topic page.