The data for training and non-English languages can be found in Tables 75–78. For surface coal mines, the weighted survey estimates indicate that annual miner refresher training is conducted more often by an outside trainer (70.1 percent) compared to the mine’s own
employees (65.9 percent). However, newly hired inexperienced and experienced miner training is more often conducted by the mine’s own employees (55.2 percent and 70.1 percent,
respectively). Lectures (98.2 percent), written materials (88.1 percent), and videos (87.2 percent) are the top three methods and materials used for training. Estimates from the survey indicate that 51.1 percent of surface coal mines have employee safety meetings once a week. Approximately two percent of surface coal mine employees use a language other than English.
Tables 79 and 80 pr esent the national estimates for work schedules and shift work. The average number of hours worked per week is 49.2 for production workers, 45.9 for production support workers, and 46.4 for preparation plant/mill workers. The majority of surface coal mines operate two shifts per day for production workers (60.5 percent) and preparation plant/mill workers (49.9 percent) and one shift per day for production support workers (51.5 percent).
National estimates for independent contractor employees are presented in Table 81.
During a typical week, surface coal mines use independent contractor employees for various types of work including: material handling (32.4 percent); drilling and blasting (23.0 percent);
construction or reconstruction of mine facilities (21.6 percent); and equipment service or repair of equipment on mine property (19.7 percent).
Tables 82–85 pr esent national estimates for safety, communication, and rescue measures.
Cell phones (90.7 percent) are the most frequently used communication system followed by hand-held two-way radios (63.6 percent), and dedicated telephones (48.1 percent). Sixty-one percent of surface coal mines use telephones for emergency early warnings. Approximately 10 percent of surface coal mines report having their own mine rescue team composed of about 13 team members. The majority of mine rescue teams train once a month (76.9 percent).
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Table 75. Miner Training Within the P ast 12 Months a t Surface Coal Mines Percentage
of Mines
Training Conducted by 95% CI
Mine employees
Annual miner refresher
Newly hired inexperienced miner Newly hired experienced miner Outside trainer
Annual miner refresher
Newly hired inexperienced miner Newly hired experienced miner
Outside contract trainer Annual miner refresher
Newly hired inexperienced miner Newly hired experienced miner Outside state grantee
Annual miner refresher
Newly hired inexperienced miner Newly hired experienced miner Outside other trainer
Annual miner refresher
Newly hired inexperienced miner Newly hired experienced miner
65.9 55.2 70.1
70.1 31.6 32.4
72.3 77.2 83.4
21.3 24.9 DSU
14.1 DSU DSU
(56.1, 75.7) (43.8, 66.6) (53.2, 86.9)
(60.3, 79.9) (21.2, 42.1) (15.3, 49.5)
(61.7, 82.9) (58.3, 96.1) (65.1, 100.0)
(11.2, 31.4) (9.9, 40.0) DSU
(7.9, 20.2) DSU DSU Notes: Data are national estimates; multiple responses permitted.
Table 76. Frequency of Periodic Safety Meetings at Surface Coal Mines Percentage
of Mines
Response 95% CI
Less than once a year DSU DSU
Annually DSU DSU
Less than once a month 8.1 (0.6, 15.5)
Once a month 13.3 (5.5, 21.1)
Once every 2 weeks 6.2 (0.0, 14.0)
Once a week 51.1 (39.0, 63.3)
Several times a week 10.0 (0.8, 19.3)
Daily 7.8 (1.2, 14.4)
Abbreviation: DSU, data suppressed. Note: Data are national estimates.
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Table 77. Employee Safety Training Materials and Methods at Surface Coal Mines Percentage
of Mines
Response 95% CI
Lectures 98.2 (95.7, 100.0)
Written materials 88.1 (80.2, 96.1)
Videos 87.2 (77.3, 97.1)
Self-guided interactive computer programs 4.5 (0.4, 8.5)
Demonstrations 73.4 (59.1, 87.7)
Hands-on training exercises 73.7 (59.2, 88.3)
Group exercises (role playing, games, problem solving) 48.4 (36.0, 60.8) Classroom simulations (e.g., virtual reality) 22.9 (13.0, 32.7)
Worksite simulations 34.6 (21.1, 48.1)
Narrative storytelling 44.0 (28.1, 59.9)
Other 4.7 (0.0, 9.6)
Notes: Data are national estimates; multiple responses permitted.
Table 78. Non-English Languages at Surface Coal Mines
Response Percentage 95% CI
Employees use a language other than English to communicate
1.9 (0.0, 4.9)
Mining operations provide training materials, signs, or written materials, in language(s) other than English
Language(s) provided1
8.0 (0.0, 16.6)
Spanish 100.0 NA
Other 0.0 NA
Helpful to have training materials, signs, or written materials in other languages, in addition to those already provided
DSU DSU
Helpful to have training materials, signs, or written materials in language(s) other than English
DSU DSU
1Multiple responses permitted. Abbreviations: DSU, data suppressed; NA, not applicable.
Note: Data are national estimates.
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Table 79. Work Schedules at Surface Coal Mines
88
Production Support Workers
Preparation Plant/Mill Workers Production
Workers
Response 95% CI 95% CI 95% CI
Scheduled days per week (average) Scheduled hours per day (average) Actual hours worked per week
(average)
Work crews change shifts at active mining site (percentage)
Average time spent traveling to and from active mining site while being paid (hours)
5.6 9.6 49.2
24.2
1.8
(5.4, 5.8) (9.0, 10.3) (45.2, 53.2)
(11.6, 36.8)
(1.6, 2.0)
5.4 9.5 45.9
15.8
1.7
(5.2, 5.6) (8.8, 10.1) (40.6, 51.2)
(7.2, 24.4)
(1.5, 1.9)
5.1 9.9 46.4
NA
NA
(4.9, 5.4) (9.4, 10.4) (33.4, 59.3)
NA
NA
Abbreviation: NA, not applicable. Note: Data are national estimates.
Table 80. Shift Work Schedules at Surface Coal Mines
89
Production Support Workers Percentage
of Mines
Preparation Plant/Mill Workers Percentage
of Mines Production
Workers Percentage Rotating shifts
Frequency workers rotate shifts Weekly
Twice a month Monthly Other
Direction the shift rotates
Clockwise (day—afternoon—night) Counterclockwise
(night—afternoon—day) Other Abbreviations: DSU, data suppressed; NA, not applicable. Note: Data are national estimates.
Table 81. Activities of Independent Contractor Employees During the Reporting Week at Surface Coal Mines
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Response
Mine development
Percentage of Mines Reporting Contractors DSU
95% CI DSU
Average Number of Contractor Employees DSU
95% CI DSU
Average Total Hours DSU
95% CI DSU
Construction or reconstruction of mine facilities
21.6 (14.0, 29.2) 16.9 (0.0, 33.8) 641.0 (0.0, 1,320.3)
Demolition of mine facilities 0.0 NA NA NA NA NA
Construction of dams DSU DSU DSU DSU DSU DSU
Excavation or earthmoving activities (involving mobile equipment)
11.0 (4.7, 17.4) 13.2 (7.8, 18.5) 500.8 (194.4, 807.2)
Equipment installation DSU DSU DSU DSU DSU DSU
Equipment service or repair of equipment on mine property
(exceeding 5 consecutive days)
19.7 (10.0, 29.4) 4.0 (2.6, 5.4) 155.7 (89.4, 222.1)
Material handling (within mine property)
32.4 (21.8, 43.0) 9.5 (5.5, 13.5) 222.6 (103.4, 341.8)
Drilling and blasting 23.0 (15.0, 31.0) 2.7 (1.8, 3.7) 80.8 (32.3, 129.2)
Production support work DSU DSU DSU DSU DSU DSU
Mineral extraction 0.0 NA NA NA NA NA
Other work 4.8 (0.0, 10.8) 4.4 (0.0, 16.0) 120.6 (0.0, 530.2)
Abbreviations: DSU, data suppressed; NA, not applicable. Note: Data are national estimates.
Table 82. Communication Devices and Systems at Surface Coal Mines
Percentage
of Mines 95% CI Response
Dedicated telephones Mine page phones Trolley phones Shaft or hoist phones Cell phones
Voice over internet protocol (VOIP) phones Hand-held two-way radios
Wireless paging devices
Leaky feeder communications system (not running a PED)
Personal emergency device (PED) cap lamp/pager Through-the-Earth (TTE) technology (other than a PED) Inductive coupled radios
Ethernet
TRACKER tagging system
Longwall face communication systems None of the above
Other
48.1 20.2 0.0 NA 90.7 0.0 63.6 10.6 DSU 0.0 0.0 DSU 11.2 0.0 NA DSU 23.0
(35.5, 60.7) (10.6, 29.8) NA NA (82.7, 98.8) NA (48.8, 78.4) (2.3, 18.9) DSU NA NA DSU (5.7, 16.7) NA NA DSU (11.4, 34.5) Abbreviations: DSU, data suppressed; NA, not applicable.
Notes: Data are national estimates; multiple responses permitted.
Table 83. Personal Locators, Trackers, and Devices at Surface Coal Mines Percentage
of Mines
Response 95% CI
Electronic or computerized tagging or tracking 0.0 NA
Tag boards 4.2 (0.2, 8.3)
Reflective vests/clothing 41.2 (26.8, 55.6)
Chemical light sticks 6.5 (0.7, 12.2)
Lighted vests 0.0 NA
Laser lights/pointers 0.0 NA
Strobe lights 23.9 (12.3, 35.5)
None of the above 44.7 (30.4, 59.0)
Other DSU DSU
Abbreviations: DSU, data suppressed; NA, not applicable.
Notes: Data are national estimates; multiple responses permitted.
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Table 84. Emergency Early Warning Methods at Surface Coal Mines Percentage
of Mines
Response 95% CI
Stench gas 0.0 NA
Audible systems 35.4 (25.8, 44.9)
Visual systems 17.9 (7.3, 28.4)
Pager phones 18.3 (8.5, 28.2)
Telephones 60.7 (48.2, 73.1)
Messengers 9.3 (2.4, 16.3)
Electronic personal communication systems DSU DSU
None of the above 27.8 (18.4, 37.2)
Other 8.2 (1.8, 14.6)
Abbreviations: DSU, data suppressed; NA, not applicable.
Notes: Data are national estimates; multiple responses permitted.
Table 85. Rescue Teams at Surface Coal Mines Percentage
of Mines
Response 95% CI
Mine has own rescue team
Average number of rescue team members Frequency of team training
Less than once a year Annually
Less than once a month Once a month
Once every 2 weeks Once a week
Other time interval
9.7 12.8
0.0 DSU 0.0 76.9 0.0 DSU 0.0
(4.2, 15.2) (8.5, 17.2)
NA DSU NA (44.6, 100.0) NA DSU NA Abbreviations: DSU, data suppressed; NA, not applicable. Note: Data are national estimates.
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