MSHA Needs to Improve Efforts to Protect Coal Miners From Respirable Crystalline Silica

Submitting OIG:

Date Issued:

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Agency Reviewed / Investigated:

Submitting OIG-Specific Report Number:

05-21-001-06-001

Location(s):

Agency-Wide

Type of Report:

Audit

Number of Recommendations:

View Document:

Attachment	Size
05-21-001-06-001_MSHA Silica Final Rpt_111220.pdf	1.36 MB

Additional Details Link:

Related Open Recommendations

Recommendation Number	Recommendation Status	Significant Recommendation
1	Open	Yes
Adopt a lower legal exposure limit for silica in coal mines based on current scientific evidence.
2	Open	Yes
Establish a separate standard for silica that allows MSHA to issue citations and monetary penalties when violations of its silica exposure limit occur.
3	Open	Yes
Enhance its sampling program to increase the frequency of inspector samples where needed (e.g., by implementing a risk-based approach).