Manager - Dave Carlson 906/487-2453, Email dcarlson@mtu.edu Mining Engineering Department

Mary Ewert - Clerk 906/487-2272 Michigan Technological University

Program Director/Department Chair - Francis Otuonye 906/487-2610 Houghton, MI 49931

Internet Home Page - http://www.mine-safety.mtu.edu

Contact Dave Carlson at the phone number listed above for assistance with setting up a safety training workshop. Contact Mary Ewert for locating suitable videos for your in-house workshops. If we can’t answer your safety-related questions we will find out or put you in touch with someone who can. See our internet home page at the address listed above.

Client fees for training will remain the same as they have been for the past 5 years. Fee increases may be needed later in the year, if a significant increase in the number of companies needing training results from the new Part 46 training requirements (see "New Part 46 etc." in the next section). To estimate the cost to train your people, see "Current Prices for Training During the Year 2000" on page 4.

Attachment 1 is a list of free-travel training locations and dates. Companies trained within 50 miles of the specified location on the date listed will not be required to pay for the trainer’s mileage, meals or motel costs. You are, however, not limited to training on the dates listed. If the dates listed are not satisfactory, ask Dave Carlson (906/487-2453) to assist you in finding another satisfactory training date when travel costs can be shared with other area companies in your general area. An estimate of your costs will be provided upon request.

With the new Title 30 CFR Part 46 MSHA training regulation published September 30, 1999 in the Federal Register, all mining operations including sand and gravel will be subject to MSHA citations for training violations. Part 46 affects a number of previously-exempt-from-training-enforcement opera-tions including: shell dredging, sand, gravel, surface stone, surface clay, colloidal phosphate, and surface limestone mines.

Exempt mines which have participated in annual refresher training in the past will not notice much of a change under Part 46. The most significant change will be the requirement that training plans be in place by October 1, 2000 and that all employees be properly trained by March 1, 2001. Part 46 requires that newly-hired inexperienced miners receive 24 hours of training. Hours of training are not specified for newly-hired experienced miners and independent contractors, but we estimate that covering the materials required by the standard will take about 8 hours for each. The new standard also requires 8-hours of annual refresher training each year for all

miners and independent contractors. The new standard will also allow MSHA to cite operations for failure to document task training and hazard training.

Affected mines have the option of either doing their own training or having it done by an outsider (such as our program). MSHA instructor certification is not required under Part 46. Mines which decide to do their own training must select a competent person to do it. Our program proposes to hold one-day seminars throughout Michigan during May and June of 2000 to walk "competent" persons and others from affected mines through the development of training plans in time for the October 1, 2000 deadline. Contact Dave Carlson at 906/487-2453 if you wish to be kept informed of seminar dates, costs, locations, etc. We hope to have enough participants at each location to hold the cost down for individual attendees.

Mines which choose to do their own training may be required to invest days and even weeks of the competent person’s time into developing and updating suitable training materials. This degree of mining company involvement in training will reap positive benefits in making company personnel aware of safety and health concerns. For those companies which don’t have the time to invest in preparation for effective training, our program has qualified, experienced instructors, and a more cost-effective approach may be to have us provide most of the required training. We will assist the mines trained in developing suitable Part 46 training plans. The mine’s competent person would ensure that mine-specific information and concerns are also adequately addressed.

Many Michigan aggregate producers have used our program for a number of years to perform annual refresher training. This training has been tailored to cover only the materials that were pertinent to these operations. These mines probably won’t recognize any differences in training content under the new Part 46 training requirements. Such training is prudent and cost-effective, and we recommend that companies, which have not trained in the past, start training during the upcoming year. Sign up by calling Dave Carlson at 906/487-2453. We train at your site and will work with you to select dates and training materials that are most suitable for your operation.

The September 13, 1999 Federal Register contains MSHA’s new noise rule, which replaces 56/57.5050 for metal and nonmetal mines. The new requirements differ significantly from the existing rule and will probably increase the time and dollars mines have to invest in noise reduction to comply. The new rule becomes effective on September 13, 2000.

Under the old rule, the minimum sound level measured was 90 dBA. The new rule has an 85 dBA "action level" as determined by personal noise exposure measurements which integrate all sound levels from 80 to 130 dBA over the 8-hour workshift. When this 85 dBA action level is exceeded, the mine operator must establish a "hearing conservation" program.

The hearing conservation program must include the following elements as spelled out in detail in the new standard:

1. A system of monitoring.
2. Providing and requiring the use of hearing protectors.
3. Audiometric testing (baseline and annual).
4. Training.
5. Recordkeeping.

The permissible exposure level (PEL), above which MSHA issues a citation, will remain at 90 dBA. Compliance with this limit is determined by measurements which integrate all sound levels to which the miner is exposed from 90 to 140 dBA. When this 90 dBA permissible exposure limit (plus uncertainty factor) is exceeded, MSHA will cite the mine operator and will require the use of all feasible engineering and administrative controls to reduce the miner’s noise exposure. When administrative controls are used as a result of an MSHA determination of overexposure, the procedures will have to be posted on the mine bulletin board and a copy provided to the affected miner.

Under the new rule, the mine operator will need to ensure that no miner is ever exposed, even instantaneously, to any sound level above 115 dBA, regardless of whether or not the miner is using a hearing protector. In addition to the actions required when the 90 dBA PEL is exceeded, dual hearing protection (ear muff and ear plug) is required when a miner’s 8-hour time weighted average exposure level exceeds 105 dBA (determined by integrating all sound levels from 90 to 140 dBA).

Mines concerned about the increased time and costs associated with a hearing conservation program may avoid having to develop such a program by taking action now. The first step should be to begin monitoring sound levels at all locations where personnel spend time. A sound level meter which monitors frequencies from 80 to 120 decibels or higher on the A scale should provide the necessary information. Sound level meters that are suitable for this purpose can be purchased at electronic stores for less than $200.

Identifying worksite areas where personnel are exposed to excessive noise will provide the mine operator with a head start in working with equipment manufacturers to reduce noise and in taking other necessary steps. Such "engineering" controls should aim to reduce the noise levels as low as possible so that in an MSHA inspection the 8-hour time-weighted-average exposure of personnel will not exceed the 85 dBA "action level" where a hearing conservation program becomes mandatory. For example, if a person spends half a shift in a 90 dBA area, he or she will need to spend the other half in an area below 80 dBA to remain below the 85 dBA action level where a hearing conser-vation program becomes mandatory.

If engineering controls do not reduce the time-weighted-average exposure of all employees to levels below 85 dBA, a mine operator can establish administrative controls. These controls usually involve keeping noisy areas off limits or limiting the portion of the shift a person is allowed to spend in areas above 85 dBA.

The alternative to taking immediate action as suggested above is to simply wait for an MSHA inspection, receive citations for noise overexposures, be forced to develop engineering and/or administrative controls and, in addition, be forced to develop a hearing conservation program involving annual hearing tests and recordkeeping. Mine operators are encouraged to begin immediately taking steps to avoid this unpleasant scenario.

For the second year in a row, our Program has won the first place award for New Training Materials in the Academia-Metal/Nonmetal Category. The training materials submitted by us for this annual competition were our new "Surface Mine Instructor Reference and Trainee Review Manual". The award was presented at the TRAM/National Instructor’s Conference in Beaver, WVa on October 12, 1999.

A presentation on the new manual was made recently at the September 30, 1999 Holmes Association Great Lakes District Council meeting in Gaylord. The new manual’s purpose is to provide instructors with information that will help them prepare for and present mine-specific safety training and will provide detailed answers to questions for trainees using the manual to review mine safety and health topics.

Suggested uses for questions in the manual include:

1. Pre-instructional testing
2. Post-instructional testing
3. Training Game Preparation
4. Trainee Self-review

The manual contains the following materials:

1. Training Outlines
2. Training Materials (By Topic)
3. Main Topics follow MSHA form 5000
4. Materials on over 35 topic areas
5. Most Topics have questions and detailed answers.
6. Appendices
7. On line Materials
8. Short Fatalgram Descriptions
9. Other exercises

Attachment 2 is the manual’s Table of Contents.

This excellent resource, assembled by our Program due to a lack of surface mine health and safety questions and detailed answers elsewhere, is now available to the mining community. The price is just a fraction of what would be charged if the manual had been produced and sold for a profit estimated to be $275 to $300. Michigan Companies or individuals will be charged $45 per copy.Out-of-State Companies or individuals will be charged $55 per copy. Contact Mary Ewert (906/487-2272) or Dave Carlson (906/487-2453) if you wish to purchase copies.

Electronic copies are available for the same prices as hard copies. The manual is under copyright protection, but we do not intend to enforce this protection for copys made for in-house use.

Four full-day Winter Mine Safety and Health Workshops are again being planned for February 2000. Locations and dates for the full-day workshops are as follows:

Marquette Holiday Inn: February 1, 2000

Gaylord Sylvan Treetops: February 3, 2000

Grand Rapids Holiday Inn: February 8, 2000

Ann Arbor Holiday Inn: February 10, 2000

At least half of each full-day session is being set aside for presentations and discussion of the new MSHA Noise Standard and the New MSHA Part 46 Training Requirements. The other half-day is still being planned. The workshops are a joint effort between the Great Lakes District Council of the Holmes Safety Association, The Michigan Mine Safety and Health Training Program, and MSHA. Those who desire to attend may contact Ken Cunningham at 517-792-8734.

1. Training Fee - $20/person with minimum of $200 for small companies (less than 50 employees) and minimum of $400 for large companies (greater than 50 employees).
2. Training Fee for two certificates (first aid certificate and either annual refresher or independent contractor certificate) – Add $5 per person to Training Fee in item 1).
3. Respirator fit testing - $500/day.
4. American Red Cross First Aid - $25 per person with minimum of $200 for small companies (less than 50 employees) and minimum of $400 for large companies (greater than 50 employees). Also company will need to pay their local American Red Cross chapter for texts and recordkeeping charges.
   

Travel costs are charged in addition to the above fees as follows:

Instructor’s wages during travel are not ordinarily charged. However, when special dates are requested requiring the instructor to travel a round-trip distance in excess of 300 miles), instructor wages during travel will be charged at a $20.00 per hour rate.

Travel costs can be reduced significantly by choosing one of our free-travel dates in your area (see attached list – applies to small companies only on a first-come, first-served basis). Costs can also be reduced by training with other companies or by training on the day before or after an instructor is training other companies in the general area of the state. Dave Carlson (906/487-2453) will be happy to work with you to schedule a date that will provide you with the lowest cost possible. A rough cost estimate is also available upon request.