Mining Publication: Development and Evaluation of a Training Exercise for Construction, Maintenance and Repair Work Activities

Recent studies have shown that miners performing construction, maintenance, and repair (CMR) work activities in the conduct of their jobs incur from 39 to 65 percent of all reported injuries in the mining industry. The number is particularly high at surface aggregate operations; however, the problem exists at all mining locations and commodities. To address this issue, an interactive, (3-D) slides training exercise, Hazard Recognition Training Program for Construction, Maintenance and Repair Activities, was developed. The purpose of the exercise is to teach workers to recognize CMR hazards in the workplace and to deal with them using accepted safe work procedures. It was field tested using a total of 340 persons from surface mining operations in six states. The subjects were tested before and after the training intervention to determine if objectives indicated that 71 percent of the participants showed improvement in their test scores. Following the posttest, subjects responded to a seven question Likert scale. These questions related to the validity of the exercise and the utility of the training program. More than 93 percent of the miners reported that they "learned something new from the training" and over 94 percent said they "would use these practices to work more safely".