The US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has proposed drastically reducing miners' maximum allowable exposure to asbestos.
The proposed rule would mean the maximum allowable exposure limit for an eight-hour shift would drop to 0.1 asbestos fibres per cubic centimetre from the current 2 fibres per cubic centimetre, which was adopted nearly 30 years ago.
The Department of Labor's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) had issued a report on the MSHA's enforcement actions at a mine in Libby, Montana, as a result of media and public attention on asbestos-related illnesses and fatalities.
The MSHA said that the OIG report held that neither more inspections nor sampling would have prevented the situation at Libby. As a result, the OIG recommended that the permissible exposure level to asbestos be lowered. The proposed change incorporates their recommendations.
Hosted by comedian and actor Tom Allen, 34 Gold, 23 Silver and 22 Bronze awards were handed out across an amazing 34 categories recognising brilliance and innovation right across the breadth of UK general insurance.
