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Dust Control Handbook for Industrial Minerals Mining and Processing

Dust Control Handbook for Industrial Minerals Mining and Processing

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A second regulation is a general industry st<strong>and</strong>ard established by OSHA in 29 CFR 1910.242(b),which states: "Compressed air shall not be used <strong>for</strong> cleaning purposes except where reduced toless than 30 psi <strong>and</strong> then only with effective chip guard <strong>and</strong> personal protective equipment."This regulation established the 30 psi limit <strong>for</strong> the maximum air pressure <strong>for</strong> the air spraymanifold.Because of these two federal st<strong>and</strong>ards, operations must file a petition of modification to theirMSHA District Manager to obtain approval to use this clothes cleaning system at their facility.Since this system has already been approved <strong>for</strong> use at other operations, obtaining approval <strong>for</strong>similar systems should not be difficult. Manufacturers producing the clothes cleaning system5can be contacted by those interested in taking advantage of this technology.HOUSEKEEPING PRACTICESAlthough good housekeeping practices might seem to be a minor or common sense issue, theycan be a significant factor in a worker's respirable dust exposure at mineral processingoperations. When housekeeping is per<strong>for</strong>med properly <strong>and</strong> on a scheduled time frame, it can bea key factor in minimizing respirable dust exposures to workers. On the other h<strong>and</strong>, when it isnot per<strong>for</strong>med, or per<strong>for</strong>med improperly, it can have just the opposite effect. In one study, anexample of this was documented when a worker was dry sweeping the floor with a push broom.In this instance, the average exposure of a coworker located one floor up from the person3 3sweeping the floor increased from 0.03 mg/m be<strong>for</strong>e sweeping to 0.17 mg/m during, <strong>and</strong>immediately after, the occurrence (Figure 8.4). Dry sweeping is discouraged as a viable cleaningtechnique because of the dust generated <strong>and</strong> liberated into the work environment [USBM 1986].Figure 8.4. Increase in coworker’s dust exposure one floor up from floor sweeping activities.5One manufacturer of the clothes cleaning booth technology is Clothes Cleaning Systems(http://www.cleanclothbooth.com/), which is selling the system that was developed under this cooperative workef<strong>for</strong>t.<strong>Control</strong>s <strong>for</strong> Secondary Sources 207

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