Back to The MINER Act of 2006 and Related NIOSH Activities

Overview

For years, mine operators, federal and state mine safety agencies, and researchers have looked at numerous aspects of mine emergency response. The 2006 multi-fatality incidents at the Sago, Alma, and Darby mines raised a number of issues about mine emergency preparedness and response, particularly as they relate to:

• miners’ donning of and expectations when wearing an SCSR and the need to switch to additional units for escape;
• miners’ judgment and decision-making processes under the stress and uncertainty of a mine escape;
• the layout and marking of emergency escapeways in mines and miners’ familiarity with escape procedures;
• wayfinding and navigation in smoke; and
• the psycho-social consequences of mine emergency escape.

Research is being conducted to assess 1) the effectiveness of realistic smoke training for escaping miners, and 2) technologies such as hand held lasers, high intensity LED lighting or strobe lights, sonic sensing devices, chemical light sticks, and directional lifelines that can be used to aid miners during escape. Researchers developed a training protocol to teach escaping miners how to successfully switch to a second SCSR if needed to escape the mine. Results of this work were coupled with additional training materials on SCSR expectations. Additional research is planned in selected areas of mine escape training. This work will include research tasks addressing the following issues:

• teaching mine trainers and safety practitioners how to conduct miner escape competency assessments by developing methods of evaluating competencies and assessment tools;
• teaching mine trainers how to create emergency evacuation decision-making exercises by providing guidance to mine
trainers on how to develop engaging new mine evacuation training scenarios that are relevant to the conditions at their particular mine;
• development and field testing of new materials for training miners to properly use wireless two-way mine communication systems during emergencies; and
• development and field testing of materials for training miners to communicate nonverbally while wearing an SCSR.

Researchers have developed a DVD training module to educate both new, inexperienced miners as well as veterans on important issues related to self-rescue and escape procedures. The module is built around interviews with two miners who survived and escape the massive explosion that rocked the underground workings of the Farmington No. 9 Mine in West Virginia in 1968. The module consists of a 25-minute video and instructor’s guide for use in safety training or other settings. The target audience consists of all underground mine workers, regardless of commodity. This training video will help safety instructors better prepare both new, inexperienced miners as well as veterans for the situations they could encounter should they have to escape an underground mine following an explosion. This "expectations" training will help miners to better respond should an explosion occur. The training module will also provide a powerful reminder to all miners that it is critical to make safety an everyday practice.

Research has also been conducted to study select issues in the deployment and use of refuge alternatives in underground coal mine. Researchers completed a training exercise to aid miners in the judgment and decision-making process when deciding whether to seek refuge as well as an exercise for providing expectations training in using a refuge chamber.

NIOSH Projects and Activities

Contracts and Grants

References

The following is a selection of publications and products relevant to NIOSH's Escape Training research efforts under the MINER Act. For information about NIOSH's overall emergency response and rescue research program, see the Emergency Management topic page and complete list of Emergency Response and Resscue Downloadable Mining Publications.