Today's Safety NewsEnvironmental Health and Safety

NIOSH hits the road to offer miners free health screenings

All former and current coal miners in western Virginia are encouraged to take advantage of the free and confidential health screenings the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will be offering starting tomorrow.

The screenings are intended to provide early detection of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), also known as black lung, a serious but preventable occupational lung disease caused by breathing respirable coal mine dust.

What's involved

The screenings, which take about 30 minutes, include a work history questionnaire, a chest radiograph, a respiratory assessment questionnaire, and spirometry testing. Blood pressure screening will be conducted as well. NIOSH provides the individual miner with the results of their own screening. By law, each person’s results are confidential; no individual information is publicly disclosed. Walk-ins are accepted, though miners are urged to call 1-888-480-4042 to schedule an appointment.

Schedule

NIOSH will have its state-of-the-art mobile testing unit at the following community and mine locations:

Location	Date	Times
St. Charles Black Lung Clinic 213 Monarch Road, St. Charles, VA 24282	8/19/16	8am – 6pm
Under Bridge Beside Save-A-Lot Store Intersection at Callahan Avenue, Appalachia, VA 24216	8/22/16 8/23/16	6am – 7pm
Deep Mine #26, Paramont Coal Red Onion Prison Road, Pound, VA 24279	8/24/16	5am – 6pm
Walmart 780 Commonwealth Drive, Norton, VA 24273	8/25/16 8/26/16	7am – 7pm
Binns-Counts Community Center 124 Ritter Circle, McClure, VA 24269	8/29/16	8am – 6pm
Deep Mine #41 Paramont Coal, 1465 Herndon Rd, McClure, VA 24269	8/30/16	6am – 6pm
St. Paul Shopping Center Wise Street, St. Paul, VA, 24283	8/31/16	7am – 7pm
Brickyard Shopping Plaza Food Lion, 124 Kents Ridge Road, Richlands, VA 24641	9/1/16	7am – 7pm
Big Rock Community Center 1054 School House Road, Big Rock, VA 24603	9/2/16	7am - 7pm
Hurley Black Lung Clinic 10279 Hurley Road, Hurley, VA 24620	9/5/16	7am – 7pm
Comfort Inn 22006 Riverside Drive, Route 460 & Main Street Grundy, VA 24614	9/6/16 9/7/16	7am – 7pm
Save-A-Lot Store 3413 Riverside Drive, Oakwood, VA 24631	9/8/16 9/9/16	7am – 7pm
Vansant Black Lung Clinic Anchorage Shopping Center , 1060 Anchorage Circle Vansant, VA 24656	9/12/16	8am - 7pm

The Virginia screenings, which will be the last ones NIOSH conducts in 2016, follow earlier mobile screenings in coal mining regions throughout Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Black lung disease increasing

The incidence of black lung disease among long-term underground miners decreased from the 1970s to the 1990s, but has been on the rise since 1999.

Black lung disease can occur in mines of all sizes. Miners who work in particular areas of the country, in certain mining jobs, and in smaller mines have an increased risk of developing CWP. Progressive Massive Fibrosis (PMF), a more serious, advanced disease, is much more prevalent among miners from underground mines with fewer than 50 workers.

NIOSH encourages miners and their families to find out additional information about the Program at the following website: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/surveillance/ORDS/ecwhsp.html