The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) requests information on SCSR Vision - REALIZING A NEW GENERATION OF MINE ESCAPE RESPIRATORS, NIOSH Docket Number NIOSH-102.

The information contained in this document is still in draft form and as such should not be considered as a final statement of NIOSH policy.

SCSR Vision - REALIZING A NEW GENERATION OF MINE ESCAPE RESPIRATORS

REALIZING A NEW GENERATION OF MINE ESCAPE RESPIRATORS

Mine escape respirators or self-contained self-rescuers (SCSRs) are intended to provide miners with a temporary supply of breathing air for safe escape from roof falls, fires, and other emergencies in underground mines. The Sago, Aracoma, and Darby coal mine disasters brought renewed attention to the role of SCSRs, and to needs and opportunities for advancements in the design and guidance on use of these devices. Mine safety professionals have encouraged strategic research to develop a new generation of SCSRs that will be more durable, will provide air for longer durations, and will be less physically demanding on the user, as well as research to improve training in the use of SCSRs.

As the federal agency that conducts research to advance mine safety and personal protective technologies, moves the results of research to workplace practice, and tests and certifies respirators for workplace use, NIOSH is working with diverse partners to plan, support, and carry out research that addresses those needs. Areas of focus include:

• Innovative designs for SCSRs that will provide air to users for longer durations. Two promising concepts, hybrid technology and docking technology, emerged in discussions with stakeholders in national workshops convened by NIOSH in 2005 and 2006. NIOSH awarded funds in February 2007 to pursue research and development on these concepts.
• Application of new technologies for oxygen generation, carbon dioxide removal, and carbon monoxide purification, and for respirator components, service, maintenance and inspection. NIOSH is interested in new technologies (methods and materials) for training that simulates actual respirator use. Realistic training that can be done frequently and efficiently will improve miners’ ability to escape.
• Changes in requirements for evaluating and testing SCSRs for NIOSH certification. NIOSH is reviewing input from public meetings in 2006 in which it presented concepts for changes, based on advancements in technologies for testing respirators, and in the understanding of interactions between SCSRs and human physiology.
• Expansion of NIOSH’s longstanding long-term field evaluation program to collect and test a larger sample of SCRSs under a standard procedure, document corrective and follow-up actions as needed, and report evaluation results annually.
• Collaboration with the Mine Safety and Health Administration to update current training modules for donning SCSRs. Updates will incorporate guidance on the donning of multiple SCSRs during an emergency escape, reflecting new requirements under the MINER Act of 2006. Those provisions require mine operators to provide individual miners with immediate access to at least two SCSRs, and to store extra units along escape ways.

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