(a) Voluntary examinations. Each operator must provide to all miners who are employed in or at any of its coal mines the opportunity to have a spirometry examination and a respiratory assessment at no cost to the miner at least once every 5 years in accordance with this subpart. The examinations will be available during a 6-month period that begins no less than 3.5 years and not more than 4.5 years from the end of the last 6-month period.
(b) Mandatory examinations. Every operator must provide to each miner who begins work in or at a coal mine for the first time on or after August 1, 2014, a spirometry examination and respiratory assessment at no cost to the miner in accordance with this subpart.
(1) Initial spirometry examination. An initial spirometry examination and respiratory assessment will be provided to all miners who begin work in or at a coal mine for the first time on or after August 1, 2014 within the first 30 days of their employment or within 30 days of approval of a plan to provide spirometry examinations.
(2) Second examination. A follow-up second spirometry examination and respiratory assessment will be provided to the miner no later than 3 years after the initial spirometry examination if the miner is still engaged in coal mining.
(3) Third examination. A third spirometry examination and respiratory assessment will be provided no later than 2 years after the examinations in paragraphs Sec. 37.3(b)(2) and paragraph (b)(2) of this section if the chest radiograph shows evidence of pneumoconiosis as defined in Sec. 37.3(b)(3) or if the second spirometry test results demonstrate more than a 15 percent decline in the value of percent predicted FEV1 since the initial test. Percent predicted FEV1 will be calculated according to prediction equations published in Spirometric Reference Values from a Sample of the General U.S. Population, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 159(1):179-187, January 1999, (incorporated by reference, see Sec. 37.97). A correction factor to Caucasian reference values will be applied when testing individuals of Asian descent as specified in the ATS Technical Standards: Spirometry in the Occupational Setting, p. 987 (incorporated by reference, see Sec. 37.97).
(c) Notification. NIOSH will notify the miner when he or she is due to receive the second or third mandatory examination under (b) of this section. Similarly, NIOSH will notify the coal mine operator when the miner is to be given a second examination. The operator will be notified concerning a miner's third examination only with the miner's written consent, and the notice to the operator must not state the medical reason for the examination or that it is the third examination in the series. If the miner is notified by NIOSH that the third mandatory examination is due and the operator is not so notified, availability of the spirometry examination under the NIOSH-approved operator's plan will constitute the operator's compliance with the requirement to provide a third mandatory examination even if the miner does not take the examination.
(d) Availability of spirometry testing. The opportunity for spirometry to be available for purposes of this subpart must be indicated in an operator's plan that has been submitted and approved in accordance with this subpart.