The Office of Mine Safety and Health Research (OMSHR) is a division within the United States'
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) devoted towards the elimination of mining fatalities, injuries, and illnesses through research and prevention.
As a part of NIOSH, OMSHR is grouped under the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), within the
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The work done by OMSHR was originally conducted by the
United States Bureau of Mines
For most of the 20th century, the United States Bureau of Mines (USBM) was the primary United States government agency conducting scientific research and disseminating information on the extraction, processing, use, and conservation of mineral r ...
, which was founded in 1910. Following the dissolution of the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1995-1996, The Safety and Health Program was transferred to the
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...
on an interim basis. In 1997, OMSHR was created when the responsibilities of mine safety and health research was permanently transferred to NIOSH.
Research done by OMSHR is primarily focused in two locations:
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
and
Spokane, Washington
Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...
. The OMSHR Pittsburgh site focuses on a larger scope of mine safety and health issues, including
dust monitoring and control,
mine ventilation
Underground mine ventilation provides a flow of air to the underground workings of a mine of sufficient volume to dilute and remove dust and noxious gases (typically NOx, SO2, methane, CO2 and CO) and to regulate temperature. The source of ...
,
hearing loss prevention and engineering noise controls,
diesel particulate monitoring and control, emergency response and rescue, firefighting and prevention, training research, ergonomics and machine safety, mine ground control, electrical safety, explosives safety, surveillance, and technology transfer.
The OMSHR Spokane site primarily focuses on metal and nonmetal mining.
See also
*
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
*
Occupational safety and health
Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or occupational safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at wor ...
*
Research center
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
*
The National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
The National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) is a research center within the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, devoted to research on personal protective equipment (PPE). ...
External links
CDC - Office of Mine Safety and Health Research - NIOSH
References
{{reflist
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Mine safety