Michigan Mine Safety & Health Training Program

Michigan State Grants Mine Safety Training Newsletter 2001-3

Contact Dave Carlson at the phone number listed above for assistance in preparing your training plan or in setting up a safety training workshop in your area. Contact Sue Nakkula to borrow suitable videos for your in-house workshops or if you need to talk to someone immediately. 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.

Program Training in the Upcoming Year.

The State Grants Program at Michigan Tech University plans to conduct training during the upcoming year as in the past. If you are a mine operator or contractor and do not have a do not have a training plan, contact Dave Carlson by phone or email for assistance.

The Program will remain as in the past including:

1. Sending a Program instructor to conduct the training at the location you select. Costs for the room and any refreshments or meals are the responsibility of the mine or contractor. The Program plans to use the same instructors as in past years including: Phil Eggerding - Houghton, Sharon Regan-Brown -- Gaylord, Ron Gradowski -- Bay City and Mitchell Turner -- Owosso.
2. Charging fees as in the past including a minimum $200 daily instructor charge for 10 or less trainees + travel costs with an additional $20 for each trainee over 10. The minimum daily instructor charge increases to $400 for large mines (over 50 employees). Thus, for example, if a company has from 1 to 10 people trained the instructor charge would be $200 + travel ($400 for a large mine). If the company has 11 people trained the charge would be $220 + travel (still $400 for a large mine). And for 25 trainees the charge would be $500 + travel for either a large or a small mine.
3. Limiting class sizes to 30 or less trainees without special accommodations. Compa-nies wanting trainees to receive 4-hour first aid certificates (meeting MSHA's requirements for a person on the site who is trained in first aid), must limit class sizes to 14 or less without special accommodations.
4. Training and travel fees will be invoiced within 1-2 months after the training is complete.
New Training Plan to Improve Training and Provide Flexibility for Contractors

The Program is currently preparing an annual refresher training plan, which the Mines we train under the new Part 46 training standard can substitute for their existing plan. The plan will also be followed for Part 48 training. Training would be on a 3-year cycle with most relevant subjects covered in greater detail once every three years. Contractors will be able to receive annual refresher training certificates meeting both the Part 46 48 standards. Program trainers had expressed concern that the 8-hour training time is not sufficient to provide adequate coverage of every relevant topic each year.

Part 46 Violations to be Cited After October 1

Mines which fall under the new 30 CFR Part 46 training standard (shell dredging, sand, gravel, surface stone, surface clay, colloidal phosphate, and surface limestone) as well as independent contractors working at such mines will no longer receive Compliance Assistance Visits (CAVs) after September 30.

The Part 46 training standard was published on September 30, 1999 and became effective on October 2, 2000. MSHA began conducting CAV's and CAV notices were issued rather than citations when violations were found. This was an effort by MSHA to ensure that all mines were provided with any assistance needed to get a training program underway. MSHA issued citations only in instances involving fatalities, hazard complaints, and follow-up inspections to CAV's that revealed non-compliance with the training requirements. MSHA will continue to conduct one-time Part 46 CAV's at mining operations that have not received a Part 46 CAV through September 30, 2001. All mine operators who have had their one-time Part 46 CAV will receive citations rather than a second CAV. Beginning October 1, 2001, MSHA will apply regular Mine Act enforcement procedures at all mining operations covered under the Part 46 standard.

HazCom Delayed to June 30, 2002

On August 28, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing a delay in the effective date of the interim final rule for hazard communication. The announcement in the Federal Register is as follows: MSHA is delaying the effective date, re-opening the record, and holding additional public hearings on the interim final rule for hazard communication (HazCom). We are re-opening the record on our interim final rule to provide interested persons an additional opportunity to comment on any issue relevant to the rulemaking. Several commenters expressed concern that they had not had sufficient time to fully analyze the interim final rule and to develop and submit meaningful comments. This action also will assure that operators have sufficient time to determine what is necessary for compliance.

DATES: The effective date of the interim final rule published on October 3, 2000 (65 FR 59048) is delayed from October 3, 2001 until June 30, 2002. Comment Deadline and Close of Record: October 17, 2001. Public Hearings: September 25, 27, October 2, 4, 10, 2001.

ADDRESSES: You may use mail, electronic mail, or facsimile to send your comments to MSHA. Electronic mail (e-mail): comments@ msha.gov. Facsimile (FAX): MSHA, Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances, 703-235-5551. Mail: David L. Meyer, Director, Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances; MSHA, 4015 Wilson Boulevard, Room 631; Arlington, VA 22203-1984. Hearings: See supplementary information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David L. Meyer, Director, Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances, MSHA, 4015 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22203-1984. Mr. Meyer can be reached at Meyer- David@msha.gov (e-mail), 703-235-1910 (voice), or 703-235-5551 (fax). The interim final rule is on our website at http://www.msha. gov/hazcom/hazcom.htm.

Materials on MTU Internet Site

The Program's Internet site (http://www.mine-safety.mtu.edu contains a variety of useful materials for mine supervisors and trainers.

Newly Added Materials:

Our recently-published "Surface Mine Supervisor Safety and Health Manual" and our recently updated Surface Mine Instructor Reference and Trainee Review Manual. The Supervisor manual represents an effort to summarize, in a little more than 100 pages, all of the requirements a surface mine or surface mine contractor supervisor must meet to comply with MSHA regulations. The training manual is a unique attempt to provide questions and detailed answers for use in providing training on a large number of safety and health topics. Instructions are given on the Internet site, which allow you to print a copy of either manual.

An Internet Self-Instruction Course -- How to Monitor Noise Exposure and Develop an MSHA-Approved Hearing Conservation Program". Step-by-step procedures are included along with useful forms for noise sampling (either using a sound level meter (SLM) or a Dosimeter) and for the development of a Hearing Conservation Program (HCP). Anyone wanting to develop a sampling program and/or a HCP can obtain virtually all the needed information by Printing out the forms and working through the PowerPoint Presentation.

Generic Hearing Conservation Program. While a mine's HCP need not be in writing, a written Program is a very useful aid to remembering the various tasks involved. You can download the MS Word version of this Program along with various useful forms and fill in the blanks or modify it on your own computer to develop your own written Program. Or you can download the PDF version (can't be computer modified) and simply use the printed materials as a guide to ensure that your mine's Program contains all the necessary elements.

Some of the most popular items which have been on our Internet Site for some time now include:

Mine Contractor Training Information. This letter was mailed to Michigan Surface Mine Contractors informing them of the training requirements and offering them annual refresher training which meets both Part 46 and Part 48 training requirements.

Listing of Top 20 MSHA Citations in Michigan for 2000. The list includes the number of the standard cited, the number of citations issued, a description of the standard, and information from MSHA's Program Policy Manual on Interpretation of the Standard.

Other Materials:

Updated MSHA 95-99 HTML Fatalgrams modified for download and use on your own local hard drive!.
Mine Safety Jepardy Game. This Game is good for reviewing materials that might otherwise put students to sleep. If you have a web page editor with a web browser, you may want to try writing your own questions!
Clip Art Library.
PowerPoint Slides: This is a selection of individual slides and complete presentations created by MS PowerPoint.
Pictures: This is a selection of JPEG format pictures (taken at surface mining operations) showing the good and the bad. Use them as you see fit.
MS Word Lesson Plans & Older Fatalgrams: These are lesson plans and the 1985 to 1994 MNM Fatalgrams in MS Word 2 format.
New Workplace Audits: Audit sheets are presented that you can modify and use to record hazards for your workplace.
Simple Text Documents & Lessons: These are lesson plans & New Workplace audits in simple text format.
Other Forms: Training Certificates & Records, plus all the items from our Fall 2000 'Competent Trainer' Workshops.
Video Listing: This is a listing of all the Videos available for loan to Michigan's mines.

Plans for Upcoming Workshops and Services

A lower-than-expected attendance at our recent HANDS-ON NOISE SAMPLING/HCP DEVELOPMENT workshops prompted the Program to request that a portion of our current year's workshop funding be held for additional workshops to be conducted during the upcoming winter. If there is sufficient interest, the workshops could include:

v Train-The-Trainer Workshops
v Supervisor Training Workshops
v Possible Additional Noise Sampling workshops.

MSHA's Stay Out-Stay Alive Campaign

"Dave D. Laurinski, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health made the following remarks at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Kentucky Mining Institute
Prestonsburg, Kentucky held on August 24, 2001:

"Now more than ever is a golden opportunity to enlighten the citizens of this country to the significant contributions all forms of mining make toward our daily comfort and progress.
That goes for the downside of mining as well. I'm talking about the inherent dangers that exist at mine sites, not just for the mine worker who, fortunately, is trained to head off danger and minimize personal risk, but for the individuals who have no idea what hazards they may be exposed to if they enter mine property unauthorized, unsupervised and untrained. I'm referring to the explorer, the adventurer, the rockhound. The group of teens who head out to the "ole swimming hole" - the abandoned quarry outside of town - on a hot summer afternoon. Or the adventurous youths who take their ATVs four-wheeling at a remote strip mine. I can't tell you how many of these incidents end in tragedy. Over the past three years, more than 50 non-miners have died in accidents on active and abandoned mine property. Even though MSHA's enforcement authority does not cover abandoned properties, these numbers are too disturbing to ignore. Consequently, "Stay Out-Stay Alive" was born. It's a national public awareness effort aimed at keeping kids and adults safe from harm on mine property. Nearly 70 organizations around the country have joined this effort. I have seen up close the kinds of tragedies that this campaign tracks. In 1996, in my home state of Utah, an 18-year-old young man - a so-called treasure hunter - fell 600 feet to his death at an old silver mine.
This was the type of senseless tragedy that, perhaps, could have been prevented with some education and enlightenment. I invite each and every one of you to join MSHA in our ongoing nationwide effort to "Stay Out and Stay Alive."

Note! Michigan Technological University is a participant in the "Stay Out-Stay Alive" campaign. Mines wishing to contribute by distributing literature in their areas may contact Dave Carlson at 906/487-2453 or email dcarlson@mtu. edu.

MSHA-Update Meeting Oct. 3rd in Gaylord