Crisis Situation
2
After reviewing the crisis list I have selected
Coal’s Deadly Dust.
My reasoning for
selecting this is due to my growing up in a coal mining town. Many of my childhood friends'
parents worked at coal mines, upon my graduation from high school I had planned to work at a
coal mine in Kentucky. My friend and I were talked into working at an auto manufacturing
facility by his grandfather who suffered from the disease black lung. After seeing the video and
reflecting on many individuals who had a heavy influence on my life as a minor. I decided to
investigate further to have a greater understanding of what many may be going through.
In the video titled
Coal’s Deadly Dust,
produced by Frontline PBS and Chad Ervin,
Howard Berkes takes a deep dive into the long-term effects of breathing coal dust. Howard meets
with several individuals discussing their struggles with the lung disease known as black lung. A
meeting with Brandon Crum a radiologist from Kentucky, details the findings of progressive
massive fibrosis or PMF in the lungs of miners. Taking these findings to the National Institute for
Occupational Safety & Health or NIOSH, the results were astonishing. Leading to the belief that
this was a widespread issue and not an isolated case related to one city and or mine. As Howard
continued with his investigation into PMF, the discovery as to why this disease had begun to
reappear became very apparent. Changes in the methods of mining have changed the toxic
exposure that individuals were being introduced to at the workplace. Due to the cutting of a coal
and rock mixture individuals were being introduced to high levels of silica dust. Data provided
by the mine safety and health group provides details and insight as to how the regulations are
failing the mine workers. MSHA representatives were very reluctant to provide insight and data
as to why silica was not being addressed within the newly established regulations. This was due
to MSHA’s belief that coal dust was the culprit for the PMF spike. Unfortunately, as PMF has
