The data for training and non-English languages can be found in Tables 145–148. For surface nonmetal mines, the weighted survey estimates indicate that more training is conducted by the mine’s employees including: annual refresher training (72.6 percent), newly hired inexperienced miner training (58.4 percent), and newly hired experienced miner training (45.5 percent) when compared to the mine’s use of outside trainers. Lectures (93.1 percent), written materials (87.3 percent), and videos (77.5 percent) are the top three methods and materials used for training. Estimates from the survey indicate that 35.0 percent of surface nonmetal mines have employee safety meetings once a month. Approximately 10 percent of surface nonmetal mine employees use a language other than English.
Tables 149 and 150 present the national estimates for work schedules and shift work.
The average number of hours worked per week is 36.5 for production workers, 37.9 for
production support workers, and 40.9 for preparation plant/mill workers. The majority of surface nonmetal mines operate one shift per day (74.7 percent for production workers, 70.9 percent for production support workers, and 36.6 percent for preparation plant/mill workers).
National estimates for independent contractor employees are presented in Table 151.
During a typical week, surface nonmetal mines use independent contractor employees for various types of work including: excavation or earthmoving activities (13.7 percent),
construction or reconstruction of mine facilities (13.4 percent), material handling (12.8 percent), and mineral extraction (8.1 percent).
Tables 152–155 pr esent national estimates for safety, communication, and rescue measures. Cell phones (82.6 percent) are the most frequently used communication system followed by hand-held two-way radios (68.7 percent), and dedicated telephones (40.8 percent).
Forty-five percent of surface nonmetal mines use telephones for emergency early warnings.
Approximately nine percent of surface nonmetal mines report having their own mine rescue team composed of about 12 team members. The majority of mine rescue teams train on an annual basis (81.9 percent).
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Table 145. Miner Training Within the P ast 12 Months at Surface Nonmetal 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
72.6 58.4 45.5
47.5 13.9 10.4
30.8 46.0 DSU
63.2 63.8 52.7
13.4 0.0 DSU
(62.5, 82.6) (46.2, 70.5) (35.9, 55.2)
(38.0, 57.0) (9.2, 18.5) (6.6, 14.2)
(17.4, 44.1) (21.0, 71.0) DSU
(50.1, 76.3) (41.5, 86.2) (30.5, 74.9)
(4.5, 22.4) NA DSU Abbreviations: DSU, data suppressed; NA, not applicable.
Notes: Data are national estimates; multiple responses permitted.
Table 146. Frequency of Periodic Safety Meetings at Surface Nonmetal Mines Percentage
of Mines
Response 95% CI
Less than once a year DSU DSU
Annually DSU DSU
Less than once a month 7.1 (3.2, 11.0)
Once a month 35.0 (23.5, 46.5)
Once every 2 weeks 4.4 (0.6, 8.2)
Once a week 25.0 (15.7, 34.2)
Several times a week 7.5 (2.6, 12.5)
Daily 15.1 (6.9, 23.3)
Abbreviation: DSU, data suppressed. Note: Data are national estimates.
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Table 147. Employee Safety Training Materials and Methods at Surface Nonmetal Mines Percentage
of Mines
Response 95% CI
Lectures 93.1 (89.5, 96.6)
Written materials 87.3 (81.2, 93.5)
Videos 77.5 (67.9, 87.0)
Self-guided interactive computer programs 13.8 (6.7, 20.9)
Demonstrations 61.4 (48.7, 74.2)
Hands-on training exercises 60.8 (54.3, 67.4)
Group exercises (role playing, games, problem solving) 29.9 (20.7, 39.1) Classroom simulations (e.g., virtual reality) 12.5 (6.2, 18.8)
Worksite simulations 33.6 (23.7, 43.6)
Narrative storytelling 39.4 (29.5, 49.3)
Other 5.5 (0.7, 10.2)
Notes: Data are national estimates; multiple responses permitted.
Table 148. Non-English Languages at Surface Nonmetal Mines
Response Percentage 95% CI
Employees use a language other than English to communicate
9.6 (4.9, 14.3)
Mining operations provide training materials, signs, or written materials, in language(s) other than English
Which Language(s) are provided1
22.6 (11.8, 33.3)
Spanish 100.0 NA
Other DSU DSU
Helpful to have training materials, signs, or written materials in other languages, in addition to those already provided
17.2 (3.7, 30.7)
Helpful to have training materials, signs, or written materials in language(s) other than English
10.0 (4.1, 15.9)
1Multiple responses permitted. Abbreviations: DSU, data suppressed; NA, not applicable.
Note: Data are national estimates.
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Table 149. Work Schedules at Surface Nonmetal Mines
152
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)
4.7 8.9 36.5
9.4
1.7
(4.4, 5.0) (8.6, 9.2) (33.2, 39.8)
(3.4, 15.3)
(1.6, 1.8)
4.9 8.5 37.9
13.6
1.7
(4.7, 5.1) (8.2, 8.7) (36.0, 39.8)
(4.6, 22.5)
(1.5, 1.8)
4.8 9.4 40.9
NA
NA
(4.5, 5.0) (8.3, 10.6) (37.9, 43.8)
NA
NA
Abbreviation: NA, not applicable. Note: Data are national estimates.
Production Support of Mines Production
Workers Percentage of Mines
Response 95% CI 95% CI 95% CI 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 151. Activities of Independent Contractor Employees During the R eporting Week at Surface Nonmetal Mines
154
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
13.4 (7.1, 19.8) 3.1 (1.5, 4.7) 88.7 (25.8, 151.7)
Demolition of mine facilities 0.0 NA NA NA NA NA
Construction of dams 0.0 NA NA NA NA NA
Excavation or earthmoving activities (involving mobile equipment)
13.7 (5.9, 21.4) 13.5 (3.8, 23.3) 490.4 (189.0, 791.8)
Equipment installation 5.3 (1.7, 8.8) 3.2 (2.6, 3.9) 135.5 (70.3, 200.6)
Equipment service or repair of equipment on mine property
(exceeding 5 consecutive days)
6.0 (2.4, 9.7) 7.8 (1.1, 14.4) 293.6 (58.4, 528.8)
Material handling (within mine property)
12.8 (7.6, 18.0) 8.2 (3.5, 12.8) 313.9 (95.1, 532.8)
Drilling and blasting 7.5 (2.3, 12.7) 6.3 (0.5, 12.0) 50.7 (6.3, 95.1)
Production support work DSU DSU DSU DSU DSU DSU
Mineral extraction 8.1 (2.7, 13.6) 3.3 (2.2, 4.4) 109.7 (56.7, 162.8)
Other work DSU DSU DSU DSU DSU DSU
Abbreviations: DSU, data suppressed; NA, not applicable. Note: Data are national estimates.
Table 152. Communication Devices and Systems at Surface Nonmetal 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
40.8 6.0 0.0 NA 82.6 DSU 68.7 6.5 0.0 DSU 0.0 0.0 7.1 0.0 NA DSU 8.0
(29.3, 52.3) (2.0, 10.0) NA NA (73.3, 91.8) DSU (61.0, 76.5) (2.1, 10.9) NA DSU NA NA (1.4, 12.8) NA NA DSU (2.5, 13.5) Abbreviations: DSU, data suppressed; NA, not applicable.
Notes: Data are national estimates; multiple responses permitted.
Table 153. Personal Locators, Trackers, and Devices at Surface Nonmetal Mines Percentage
of Mines
Response 95% CI
Electronic or computerized tagging or tracking DSU DSU
Tag boards DSU DSU
Reflective vests/clothing 24.3 (16.8, 31.8)
Chemical light sticks 0.0 NA
Lighted vests 0.0 NA
Laser lights/pointers 0.0 NA
Strobe lights 7.5 (1.8, 13.3)
None of the above 68.2 (59.0, 77.4)
Other 6.2 (1.3, 11.1)
Abbreviations: DSU, data suppressed; NA, not applicable.
Notes: Data are national estimates; multiple responses permitted.
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Table 154. Emergency Early Warning Methods at Surface Nonmetal Mines Percentage
of Mines
Response 95% CI
Stench gas 0.0 NA
Audible systems 32.2 (21.9, 42.5)
Visual systems 9.4 (4.7, 14.2)
Pager phones 7.4 (1.8, 13.1)
Telephones 44.9 (32.4, 57.4)
Messengers 13.5 (6.5, 20.5)
Electronic personal communication systems DSU DSU
None of the above 30.5 (22.0, 39.1)
Other 11.6 (6.7, 16.4)
Abbreviations: DSU, data suppressed; NA, not applicable.
Notes: Data are national estimates; multiple responses permitted.
Table 155. Rescue Teams at Surface Nonmetal 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
8.5 11.9
0.0 81.9 DSU DSU 0.0 0.0 0.0
(4.0, 13.0) (4.2, 19.5)
NA (60.3, 100.0)
DSU DSU NA NA NA Abbreviations: DSU, data suppressed; NA, not applicable. Note: Data are national estimates.
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