Abstract
Honoring miners who lost their lives: A participatory study to improve mine safety and health, identify elements of effective safety and health programs, and the supports and barriers to miners' voice and roles in such programs
Nancy Lessin, MS
United Steelworkers-TMC, Boston, MA
APHA 2016 Annual Meeting & Expo (Oct. 29 - Nov. 2, 2016)
The United Steelworkers International Union (USW) represents miners in 122 metal and non-metal mines in the U.S. Between 2007 and 2015, 196 miners lost their lives in U.S. metal/non-metal mines; 21 of these fatalities took place in mines represented by the USW. MSHA has recommended that mines implement effective safety and health programs including core elements for identifying and addressing hazards. However, no studies have investigated if such programs exist, the elements of effective hazard identification and control aspects of these programs, or the role of worker participation including supports and barriers to such participation in these programs. The MSHA investigation of the 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine tragedy found a myriad of problems, including how workers had been prevented from speaking out about unsafe conditions. An out-of-court settlement following that tragedy established the Alpha Foundation with a $48 million trust fund to promote research aimed at improving mine safety and health. In 2013 USW/Tony Mazzocchi Center was awarded funding from the Alpha Foundation to conduct a study to identify and understand the characteristics of and barriers to effective hazard identification and control programs in USW-represented metal/non-metal mines. This presentation will describe this comprehensive research project that included a two-day focus group, the development and conducting of several survey instruments, case studies conducted in several mines, the role that miners themselves played in all aspects of this participatory research study, and key lessons learned regarding this research design.
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice Occupational health and safety Public health or related research
Abstract
Upper Big Branch Disaster: So much more than a coal dust explosion
Celeste Monforton, Dr.PH, MPH
George Washington University, San Marcos, TX
APHA 2016 Annual Meeting & Expo (Oct. 29 - Nov. 2, 2016)
The 2010 coal mine disaster at the Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine was the US's worst fatal industrial incident in 40 years. Twenty-nine workers were killed in the massive explosion of coal mine dust. As part of the Department of Justice's criminal investigation into the incident, the company agreed to establish a $40 million fund (a.k.a., the Alpha Foundation) to award grants for occupational safety and health research in the mining industry. Investigators of the UBB disaster identified a host of factors that led to explosion, including a "normalization of deviance" which allowed production pressure and deferred maintenance to compromise safety. This brief presentation will describe the unique opportunity provided by the Alpha Foundation grants to examine the social, economic, and work organization factors that cause work-related injuries and fatalities. The presenter, who was part of the team that investigated the UBB disaster, will provide the context for the subsequent presentations on a particular Alpha Foundation-funded research project.
Occupational health and safety Social and behavioral sciences
Abstract
What research studies mean for those being studied: Reflections of a miner on the results of a research project on mine safety and health
Ken Ball
United Steelworkers Local Union 15320, Green River, WY
APHA 2016 Annual Meeting & Expo (Oct. 29 - Nov. 2, 2016)
Much research is conducted on occupational safety and health, but rarely do we hear from those whose health, safety and workplaces have been studied about what the results of those studies mean for them, their co-workers and unions, their workplaces, and future efforts to create safer, healthier workplaces. This presentation by an underground trona miner, a member of United Steelworkers Local Union 15320 from Green River, Wyoming who serves on the union's safety committee, will provide a miner's reflections on the results of the USW-Tony Mazzocchi Center's Alpha Foundation-funded research project called “Characteristics of and Barriers to Effective Hazard Identification and Control Programs in U.S. Metal and Nonmetal Mines.” He will also discuss further efforts needed to improve mine safety and health, including additional research needs.
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice Occupational health and safety Public health or related research
Abstract
Characteristics of, and Barriers to Effective Hazard Identification and Control Programs in U.S. Metal and Non-Metal Mines
Douglas Myers, ScD, MA1, Michael Wright, MS2, Nancy Lessin, MS3, Thomas H. McQuiston, DrPH4, Sharon Thompson2, Sara Brooks, BA2 and Celeste Monforton, Dr.PH, MPH5
(1)West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, (2)United Steelworkers, Pittsburgh, PA, (3)United Steelworkers-TMC, Boston, MA, (4)USW Tony Mazzocchi Center for Health, Safety and Environmental Education, Chapel Hill, NC, (5)George Washington University, San Marcos, TX
APHA 2016 Annual Meeting & Expo (Oct. 29 - Nov. 2, 2016)
Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the existence and effectiveness of MSHA-recommended safety and health programs for addressing workplace hazards in a population of metal and nonmetal mines represented by the United Steelworker (USW).
Methods: We surveyed USW mine unions in all 122 USW-represented metal and nonmetal mines in the US. As a team, union's health and safety committees and union leaders completed a questionnaire asking about types and features of their health and safety committee(s) (HSC) and their operation in the mines including how hazards are identified, reported, and corrected; as well as the extent, role and effectiveness of the union's and miners' voice in these activities. Union leaders completed the survey where no HSC existed. Linear regression was used to examine the effects of HSC presence and type.
Results: Eighty-seven mine local unions completed the questionnaire (response rate=71.3%). Ten mines had no HSC (11.5%), 45 had Labor-Management HSCs (51.7%), 2 had Union Only HSCs (2.3%), 26 had both (29.9%) and 4 had other committee structures (4.6%). Mines with either Labor-Management or both Labor-Management and Union Only HSCs reported significantly (p<0.05) greater responsiveness from management to miners' safety concerns and input regarding safety hazard reporting as measured via several variables, than mines with no HSC.
Conclusion: Results are preliminary and additional analyses will be done to adjust for potential confounders. Additional analyses will also be done to examine the effects of the presence and properties of HSCs on various other safety-related variables gathered in the questionnaire.
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice Occupational health and safety Public health or related education
Abstract
Spirometry quality and the burden of occupational lung disease in Navajo miners
E. Brigitte Gottschall, MD, MSPH, Wendy Vonhof, M.S. and Cecile Rose, M.D., M.P.H.
National Jewish Health, Denver, CO
APHA 2016 Annual Meeting & Expo (Oct. 29 - Nov. 2, 2016)
Background: Miners are at risk for occupational lung diseases including pneumoconiosis and emphysema/COPD. The Miners Clinic of Colorado (MCC) provides free medical surveillance for Navajo miners, who face geographic and other barriers to care. We describe lung disease findings and spirometry quality challenges from our 2015 MCC for active/retired Navajo miners.
Methods: Testing included a questionnaire, chest x-ray B-read, and spirometry. Pneumoconiosis was defined as a chest x-ray profusion score of > 1/0. COPD was defined as an FEV1/FVC ratio <70% or below the lower limit of normal. Spirometry by experienced NIOSH-certified technicians was reviewed by a pulmonologist for quality based on ATS/ERS criteria.
Results: Of 77 miners, 94.8% were men. Mean age was 67.8 years (range 42-90). 70.1% were retired, and 89.6% reported never smoking. Most were coal miners (88.3%) with a mean of 28.2 years worked, with the rest metal/uranium miners. Respiratory symptoms included dyspnea (65%), cough (49%), wheezing (40%), and phlegm (30%). Pneumoconiosis occurred in 11.3% and COPD in 10.2%, the majority (87.5%) never smokers. 35/71 (49.3%) spirometries were graded acceptable, 24 (33.8%) suboptimal, and the remainder questionable/uninterpretable. Despite use of a Navajo language training video and translators, spirometry quality was limited by difficulty obtaining reproducible results.
Conclusions: Respiratory symptoms and findings of pneumoconiosis and COPD were common, reflecting on-going needs for workplace exposure control, lung disease surveillance, and benefits counseling. Adequate spirometry was difficult to obtain, emphasizing the importance of frequent quality checks during medical surveillance to assure interpretable spirometry in at-risk worker populations.
Occupational health and safety