NIOSH to do free, confidential screenings for coal miners
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has begun offering a series of free, confidential health screenings to coal miners as part of the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program (CWHSP). 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 in coal miners caused by breathing respirable coal mine dust.
The health screenings are provided through the state-of-the-art NIOSH mobile testing units at convenient community and mine locations. This year’s first week of surveys will begin March 19 through March 23 in coal mining regions throughout Western KY. The following week, March 26 through 30, screenings are offered throughout Mingo, Logan, and Wayne Counties in WV. Additional survey locations include coal mining regions throughout the rest of WV, PA, OH, and MD. Twelve weeks of surveys are planned this year.