Measurement & analysis

Research and Evaluation Methods For Measuring Nonroutine Mine Health and Safety Skills: Bibliography (PDF, 4637 KB, 1988-06)
A comprehensive review of published research was carried out to identify methods for teaching and assessing critical but nonroutine skills for coping with emergency situations.

Case studies

The Application of Major Hazard Risk Assessment (MHRA) to Eliminate Multiple Fatality Occurrences in the U.S. Minerals Industry (PDF, 1877 KB, 2008-10)
This NIOSH pilot project demonstrated that US mines have the capability to successfully implement an MHRA and that the basic requirement for a successful MHRA is the desire to become more proactive in reducing risks associated with events that can cause multiple fatalities.

Administrative controls

The Communication Triangle: Elements of an Effective Warning Message (PDF, 562 KB, 2007-01)
The lack of good communication is a very real problem in mine emergencies. Sometimes critical information is not communicated to those who need it to make decisions. At other times, those on the receiving end of a warning do not think to ask the right questions. The authors interviewed 48 workers who escaped three serious fires in western Pennsylvania. In each case the location of the fire was known but did not get communicated to many of those who had to evacuate.

Development of a Supervisory and Management Training Program for the Underground Coal Mining Industry (PDF, 1609 KB, 1983-05)
This report describes a project in which Development of a Supervisory and Management Training Program for the Underground Coal mining Industry was developed and evaluated.

Job Training Analysis: A Process for Quickly Developing a Roadmap for Teaching and Evaluating Job Skills (PDF, 927 KB, 2006-08)
This report describes a process called job training analysis (JTA) for quickly developing information that is useful for skills training. Its main use is to structure skills training at the jobsite by identifying job duties, tasks, and steps and the reasons why those job components are important. The outcome of the process is a worksheet - a training outline based on the knowledge and expertise of experienced workers. Time invested in developing a JTA will save significantly more time when it is used appropriately by skilled trainers.

Strategies For Improving Miners' Training (PDF, 492 KB, 2002-09)
This NIOSH Information Circular presents basic principles for teaching adults and provides examples of how these principles can be used to develop and implement effective training for miners.

Training packages

Coaching Skills for On-the-Job Trainers (PDF, 1702 KB, 2005)
The document contains the printed material that is part of the training package Coaching Skills for On-The-Job Trainers. It describes how to develop or manage an on-the-job training program so that information is passed on from trainer/coach to trainee efficiently and effectively.

Roof Bolting Machine Operators Skills Training for a Walk-Thru Roof Bolter: Trainer's Guide (PDF, 1271 KB, 2006-08)
This trainer's guide is designed as a reference manual. The purpose is to offer information and examples to skills trainers to assist them in structuring training for new operators of Walk-Thru roof bolting machines. Trainers can use this manual as a resource for helping trainees learn, understand, and apply knowledge and skills.

Coaching Skills for On-The-Job Trainers
The purpose of this train-the-trainer package is to describe how to develop or manage an on-the-job training program so that information is passed on from the trainer/coach to the trainee efficiently and effectively. Efficient means the best use of time and resources of all those involved in the training process, and effective means that the trainee truly learns the skills and internalizes the knowledge needed to perform the job well. NIOSH Pub. No. 2005-146: Coaching Skills for On-the-Job Trainers (PDF, 1702 KB, 2005-08) is this same training package formatted as a single document.

Training

Expectations Training for Miners using Self-Contained Self-Rescuers in Escape from Underground Coal Mines (PDF, 140 KB, 2008-10)
NIOSH conducted a study to determine the human response issues related to wearing an SCSR. This article describes the findings and discusses the expectations training program developed from the data. The program includes the normal human response in an emergency.

Training Future Mine Emergency Responders Part 2: What Topics Should be Included? (http://holmessafety.org/1997/NOV97.pdf) (PDF, 1044 KB, 1997-11)
This is the second of two articles which report experts responses to questions about training for future mine emergencies. During the interviews they discussed how training should be conducted, who should be trained, and what topics should be included. This article will cover the third area: Topics that should be included in training for mine emergency response managers.

Working in the Classroom - A Vision of Miner Training in the 21st Century (PDF, 1261 KB, 2008)
This article discusses how narrative-based training has evolved and is likely to continue changing in the future using the Underground Coal Mine Map Reading Training (UCMMRT) developed by NIOSH.

Training theory & methodology

The Concept of Degraded Images Applied to Hazard Recognition Training in Mining for Reduction of Lost-Time Injuries (PDF, 427 KB, 2003)
This paper discusses the application of a training intervention that uses degraded images for improving the hazard recognition skills of miners.

Effective Hazard Recognition Training using a Latent-Image, Three-Dimensional Slide Simulation Exercise (PDF, 11171 KB, 1995)
The U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) conducted experiments to determine if training using a latent- image, three-dimensional (3-D) slide simulation exercise improved miners' abiity to recognize roof and rib hazards. The effectiveness of this innovative type of classroom training was investigated by measuring workers' performance on a hazard recognition task. The study was unique in that hazard recognition skills were assessed in the workplace using actual coal mine roof and rib hazards. Results showed that training with a latent-image, 3- D slide simulation exercise significantly improved each subject's performance on the in-inine hazard recognition task. Further, the USBM researchers concluded that transfer of learning from the classroom to the workplace occurred.

The Evolving Mining Workforce: Training Issues (PDF, 310 KB, 2001-08)
A major concern in the mining industry today is how to train the present aging workforce plus the expected influx of new and less experienced miners and mine operators as the cohort of older workers retire.

Getting Through to Greenhorns: Do Old Training Styles Work with New Miners? (PDF, 492 KB, 2002-09)
This paper discusses the training needs of the younger generation of inexperienced workers who have just entered or are soon to enter the mines. Currently, many trainers are of the so-called Baby Boom generation. Can these different age groups learn to communicate across the generation gap?

Issues for Training an Evolving Emergency Management Workforce: A View from the U.S. Mining Community (PDF, 740 KB, 2002-05)
This paper reviews research from the U.S. mining community to define issues relevant to an evolving national and international workforce and relate them to the emergency response population.

Principles of Adult Learning: Application for Mine Trainers (PDF, 492 KB, 2002-09)
Discusses the principals of adult learning based on research in education and psychology, and stresses the importance of taking a systems approach to training.

Principles of Adult Learning: Tips for Trainers (HTM, 20 KB, 2004-12)
It is important to understand and integrate principles of adult learning in training the nation's miners. Attention must be given to the miner population and how individuals learn and respond to information.

Releasing the Energy of Workers to Create a Safer Workplace: The Value of Using Mentors to Enhance Safety Training (PDF, 492 KB, 2002-09)
The mentor/learner model is a time-honored approach to teaching, including within the mining industry. Building upon concepts in current theories of adult education, this paper highlights the unique advantages of using mentoring as a teaching method that can make the educational experience both interesting and effective.

Safety and Health Training for an Evolving Workforce: An Overview From the Mining Industry (PDF, 207 KB, 2004-07)
Safety and health professionals recognize that training is a critical element of any effective safety and health program. Of present major concern in the mining industry is how to provide appropriate training for an aging workforce and concurrently develop training for the expected influx of new and less experienced miners as older workers retire.

Teaching Miners: Breaking the Barriers to Learning (PDF, 286 KB, 2003-10)
Miners, like many skilled blue-collar workers, are not traditional learners. They have not always been successful in classroom-type settings, preferring to learn on the job in a hands-on environment.

Virtual Reality in Mine Training (PDF, 1023 KB, 2007-02)
The use of virtual reality (VR) technologies to train miners is an evolving area in research and development. In July 2006, representatives of 14 international organizations met to discuss current VR-related efforts and explore ways to employ VR in the future. This paper gives an overview of the various approaches presented at the meeting and discusses directions for future implementation.

Training design & evaluation

Communicating the Same Message with Different Media: An Example from Hearing Loss Prevention (PDF, 492 KB, 2002-09)
Multiple versions of an educational message can reach a diverse population more effectively than a single version. For instance, some workers are trained in formal classrooms while others are self-taught. This paper will describe additional advantages and disadvantages of different delivery systems and will show what considerations are helpful in designing content that can be readily adapted to alternate presentations.

Considerations in Training On-the-Job Trainers (PDF, 492 KB, 2002-09)
On-the-job training (OJT) is a very common method of teaching job skills. Health, safety, and operational skills can be connected through training. Haul truck operator training is used to illustrate some of the concepts discussed in this paper.

Developing Toolbox Training Materials for Mining (PDF, 492 KB, 2002-09)
Toolbox training is often described as short, informal training conducted at a worksite by technically competent persons for the benefit of a work team. The key feature of toolbox training is the focus on a work team and what is important to that group in its workplace.

Development of NIOSH Hard-Rock Safety Training Materials (PDF, 188 KB, 2001-02)
A description of the development process and results of safety training projects.

Expectations Versus Experience: Training Lessons Based Upon Miners' Difficulties when Using Emergency Breathing Apparatus (PDF, 432 KB, 2004)
A field test of the NIOSH-developed training product "I Can't Get Enough Air" was conducted to determine if it led to improvements in miner's scores on a true/false test of their SCSR's functional capabilities and proper usage.

Feeding the Multitudes - How to Connect With Customers (PDF, 222 KB, 2001-02)
A discussion of existing minerals education activities and tips for developing successful programs.

Guidelines for the Development of a New Miner Training Curriculum (PDF, 291 KB, 2008-01)
This report is intended to help mine safety trainers better prepare to teach the influx of new underground coal miners who are entering the industry by identifying two different approaches to instruction and discussing the ways they may affect how well prepared new hires are to deal with a dynamic and hazardous workplace.

Innovative Alternatives to Traditional Classroom Health and Safety Training (PDF, 492 KB, 2002-09)
After thoroughly covering the health and safety training subjects required under Title 30, Part 48, of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), mine operators often find themselves with little or no time left in the class schedule for other important topics. This paper discusses a technique developed in partnership with RAG Twentymile Coal Co., Oak Creek, CO, for incorporating employee participation at all levels in fire prevention and safe equipment operation training outside of traditional classrooms.

An Overview of the Evaluation Process for Mine Trainers (PDF, 492 KB, 2002-09)
Interest in training evaluation in the mining industry was piqued with the promulgation of Title 30, Part 46, of the Code of Federal Regulations. Under Part 46.3, a training plan is considered to be approved if it contains certain information, including "the evaluation procedures used to determine the effectiveness of training." The training evaluation worksheet at the end of this paper can be used to guide evaluation planning.

Tell Me A Story... Using Stories to Improve Occupational Safety training (PDF, 163 KB, 2007)
This paper discusses the social and cultural power of stories, and how they have been used to develop training for skilled blue-collar workers.

Tell Me a Story: Using Narrative to Teach Safety to Skilled Blue-Collar Workers (PDF, 229 KB, 2003-03)
A discussion of how training videos created to get safety messages to miners were developed, how "master miners" and story lines were chosen, and how the resulting videos have been received in the mining industry.

Training Evaluation Tips (HTM, 44 KB, 2004-12)
Evaluation of training within work settings can assist you in learning more about your organization. It is important to understand the purpose of your evaluation before planning it and choosing methods to do it.

Use of Simulation Exercises for Safety Training in the U.S. Mining Industry (PDF, 443 KB, 2001-09)
This study reports the results of a survey of organizations that used problem-solving simulation exercises to support mine health and safety training. Recommendations are offered for the continuation and expansion of simulation exercises as one method for occupational health and safety training.