[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 219 (Tuesday, November 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56327-56328]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-24700]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[Docket No. CDC-2018-0110; NIOSH-224]
Barriers to Participation in the NIOSH Coal Workers Health
Surveillance Program
AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HHS.
ACTION: Request for information.
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SUMMARY: The Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program (CWHSP or
Program), administered by CDC's National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH), is seeking information from coal miners,
miner advocates, unions, industry stakeholders, and other interested
parties about barriers to participating in health screening offered by
the Program to inform efforts to improve participation.
DATES: Comments must be received by January 14, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Written comments: Comments may be submitted electronically,
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov, or
by sending a hard copy to the NIOSH Docket Office, Robert A. Taft
Laboratories, MS-C34, 1090 Tusculum Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45226. All
written submissions received must include the agency name (Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, HHS) and docket number (CDC-2018-0110;
NIOSH-224) for this action. All relevant comments, including any
personal information provided, will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cara N. Halldin, NIOSH Coal Workers'
Health Surveillance Program, Respiratory Health Division, 1095
Willowdale Road, MS HG900.2, Morgantown, WV 26505-2888; (304) 285-5754
(this is not a toll-free number); [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The NIOSH Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program was authorized
by the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, as amended by the
Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), to
detect dust-induced interstitial lung disease (black lung or coal
workers' pneumoconiosis) and prevent its progression in individual
miners, and obtain information about temporal and geographic trends
across the population of coal miners. Through the Program, coal miners
are offered periodic health screenings, including chest x-rays and
spirometry examinations, at no cost to them. These screenings can
potentially detect early signs of black lung. NIOSH has administered
the Program since 1970. Since that time, the prevalence of radiographic
evidence of pneumoconiosis among participating coal miners reached its
lowest level in the late 1990s, but has steadily increased since 2000
and is now at a 25-year high. In the Appalachian coal mining states of
Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia, as many as one in five
underground coal miners with more than 25 years' tenure are thought to
have radiographic evidence of pneumoconiosis.\1\ Participation by coal
miners in the CWHSP is voluntary, and about 35 percent of active coal
miners participate in health screenings offered by the Program.\2\
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\1\ Blackley DJ, Halldin CN, Laney AS [2018]. Continued increase
in prevalence of coal workers' pneumoconiosis in the United States,
1970-2017. AJPH 108(9):1220-1222.
\2\ Id.
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Greater participation in the Program would provide more
opportunities for early detection of pneumoconiosis in coal miners,
providing those with early disease the ability to take action to reduce
the chance for progression to severe lung disease. In order to identify
ways to improve participation in the Program, NIOSH is seeking
information from all interested parties, especially active coal miners,
as well as miner advocates, unions, industry stakeholders, and
healthcare providers of screening services for the CWHSP, to learn
about the factors that keep miners from participating in the health
screening examinations that are available to them.
NIOSH is particularly interested in receiving information about the
following questions:
1. Are coal miners aware that periodic health screenings are
available, at no cost to them, through the Coal Workers' Health
Surveillance Program?
2. Is lack of convenience of the screening--for example, screening
locations or hours of availability--a barrier to participation? If yes,
please describe those factors that may prevent miners from accessing
CWHSP screenings.
3. NIOSH's mobile surveillance unit travels to different locations
to provide free black lung screenings, including chest x-rays and
spirometry tests.\3\ Does the mobile unit provide a useful supplement
to services offered by approved healthcare facilities engaged by mine
operators? If yes, please explain why mobile outreach is a useful
supplement. If no, or if mobile outreach could be improved, please
provide recommendations on how it could become more useful to the coal
mining community.
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\3\ See https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/cwhsp/free-screening/wv.html.
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4. Do coal miners receive encouragement to participate (or
discouragement from participating) in the CWHSP screenings from others
such as employers, unions, or co-workers? If so, please describe.
5. Are scheduling issues, such as the need to take unpaid time off
from work or use vacation hours or non-work hours for health
screenings, a barrier to miners' participation in health
[[Page 56328]]
screenings? If yes, please explain the scheduling issue that is a
barrier and provide recommendations for how it could be overcome.
6. Does concern about the confidentiality of medical information
pose a barrier to participation? If this is a barrier, then please
provide recommendations or suggestions for how it can be overcome.
7. Does concern that the early identification of dust-related lung
disease might adversely affect a miner's career (e.g., prevent career
advancement or the ability to get a new coal mining job) pose a barrier
to participation? If this is a barrier, then please provide
recommendations or suggestions for how it can be overcome.
8. Does concern that early identification of dust-related lung
disease might affect subsequent eligibility for compensation through
Federal or State programs pose a barrier to participation? If this is a
barrier, then please describe the specific compensation programs and
how eligibility for them can be affected by early detection of dust-
related lung disease. Please also provide recommendations or
suggestions for how this barrier could be overcome.
9. Does concern that personal finances will require a miner to
continue working despite early identification of dust-related lung
disease pose a barrier to participation? If this is a barrier, please
provide recommendations or suggestions for how it can be overcome.
10. Are there any other barriers to participation that NIOSH should
be aware of?
Interested parties may participate in this activity by submitting
written views, opinions, recommendations, and data. Comments received,
including attachments and other supporting materials, are part of the
public record and subject to public disclosure. Do not include any
information in your comment or supporting materials that you do not
wish to be disclosed. Although your name, contact information, or other
information that identifies you in the body of your comments will be on
public display, NIOSH will review all submissions and may choose to
redact or withhold submissions containing private or proprietary
information such as Social Security numbers, medical information, and/
or inappropriate language. Comments may be submitted on any topic
related to this action. All public comments will be posted in the
docket for this action at https://www.regulations.gov.
John J. Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2018-24700 Filed 11-9-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-19-P