The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia vacated what had been the current workplace examinations rule under 56/57.18002 and denied an appeal by the Secretary, effectively rolling the rule back to the original final rule that was published in January of 2017. Among other things the rule had stated under paragraph (a) that these exams were to be performed prior to work commencing or as work commences, and under paragraph (b) that conditions found during examinations that may adversely affect the safety and health of miners and that were not corrected promptly must be documented. The reversion back to the original language takes away the “as work commences” provision on when the examination is required to be performed, and also the conditions that are “not corrected promptly” criteria for conditions that must be documented. You can read the Federal Register entry by clicking here or by pasting the following address into your web browser.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/09/30/2019-20852/examinations-of-working-places-in-metal-and-nonmetal-mines