Western Mining Safety and Health Training Resource Center: An Integrated Approach

Details

• Personal Author:
  Brown L ; Burgess J
• Description:
  Since 2010, the University of Arizona (UA) Western Mine Safety and Health Training Resource Center (TRC) has made significant strides to develop and deploy new, competency-based active learning resources and to enhance the capabilities of trainers across the mining industry in western states. Key outcomes of the UA Center include: 1) The number of mine workers (approx. 12,000), mining supervisors (>150), and trainers (>600) trained from Oct. 2010 to Sep 2020; 2) Comprehensive needs assessment identifying critical deficiencies in mining training and safety culture, which have guided each phase of our Center and resulted in one dissertation (Brown, 2015); 3) The Health and Safety Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), a network of highly engaged western mine safety professionals representing >40 companies and agencies; 4) Development of new training materials that have been distributed nationally, including approx. 500 copies of our active learning guide, Mine Safety Training Handbook: Active Learning Resources for Trainers, >100 copies of our New Miner and Annual Refresher Training Program Guide, and >150 copies of our Very Good Day card game; 5) 52 modules of the Part 46 Toolbox Training for Construction Aggregate Miners translated to Spanish and freely downloadable from our website; 6) Creation of three sophisticated, computer-based "serious games," called Learn with Harry, with which >1,000 mine workers have been trained to date, with company-specific customization and extended support options available via a commercialization partner; 7) Two new courses providing critical health and safety expertise to aspiring mining professionals (Student Interactive Mining) and non-frontline employees (Mining 101); 8) The first competency model for mine safety trainers, which was validated and used to develop and pilot five courses for our Instructional Design Certificate Program (20 trainers graduated to date); 9) A new coaching program for trainers, encompassing our Higher Level Trainer (HLT) clinic and numerous focus-specific workshops in which >300 trainers have participated; 10) The Mining Institute for Supervisory Leadership (MISL), in which >100 supervisors have participated over four years; 11) Development of a multi-level, systems evaluation approach combining knowledge checks (e.g. using clickers and quizzes in class), competency assessment (e.g. using self-assessments and post-test serious games), and holistic evaluation (e.g. via andragogical surveys, audits, and follow-ups); 12) Development of an interactive Critical Controls Management workshop, in which 86 industry supervisors have participated to share over 100 controls covering material unwanted events such as heap leach failures, rock falls, slope failures, and tailings failures (curated database available through UA Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources); and 13) Numerous dissemination activities, which include 10 LinkedIn articles receiving over 18,000 views through fall 2020, 36 conference presentations and invited talks delivered nationally since 2017, and a dozen peer-reviewed articles (8 published and 4 in progress) contributed by UA Center researchers since 2015. Notably, all of these resources are readily available to the mining community and may be found either through the program website (https://miningsh.arizona.edu) or by contacting the UA Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources (https://minerals.arizona.edu). To address the safety and health challenges in the western US, our Center used a competency-based framework integrated into three specific aims for the completed project period. Some key highlighted outcomes for each aim include: 1. Offer active learning-based safety and health training to mine workers. We have accommodated low literacy and educationally disadvantaged learners with the development of a suite of serious games. Our new offerings include a computer-based game (Harry's Hazardous Day) with multiple in-game scenarios and robust evaluation tools that enable rapid analysis and a feedback loop for continuous improvement of in-game mechanics and scenarios. We have also developed and deployed a tabletop card game, The Very Good Day Game, with 32 safety hazards, 18 health hazards, and a new expansion deck for sand and gravel operations. The built-in Safety Index allows for rapid evaluation of trainee understanding. During the project period over 700 mine industry professionals have been trained using our computer-based serious games, and over 500 have been trained with our card game. 2. Offer innovative train-the-trainer programs. We have developed and offer the Instructional Design for the Safety and Technical Trainer Certificate Program, as well as the Mining 101 Tutorial Course. Each of these offerings is based on our Mine Trainer Competency Model, the first ever mining-specific competency model. In addition, we developed and piloted a tool for evaluating trainer competencies in spring of 2020. The tool allows an evaluator to assess a trainer based on 25 competencies linked to our model. It also allows trainers to provide their organization feedback regarding training support, materials, resources, etc. The tool has been received very positively by our pilot partner and we are continuing to refine it for expanded distribution to other partners. 3. Establish collaborative partnerships for critical control management. We developed and hosted 7 interactive Critical Controls Management workshops, in which 86 industry supervisors have participated, to share over 100 controls. Our online training course on critical controls provided 170 participants both passive and active virtual content that concluded each week with a synchronous question-and-answer session. The course was capped by a mini-symposium where participants presented case studies they had developed. The training was very well-received, with several companies expressing interest in incorporating it into their own on-demand training. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Mining Occupational Health Safety Software Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Computer Software Information Dissemination Injury Prevention Mine Safety Mining Industry Occupational Health Programs Partnership Safety Education Training Worker Safety
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Final Cooperative Agreement Report
• Place as Subject:
  Arizona ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-35
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062801
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2022-100477
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, U60-OH-010014, 2021 Mar; :1-35
• Contact Point Address:
  Jefferey Burgess, MD, MS, MPH Associate Dean for Research and Professor, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, 1295 N Martin Ave, PO Box 245163, Tucson, AZ 85724
• Email:
  jburgess@email.arizona.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• NORA Priority Area:
  Mining
• Performing Organization:
  University of Arizona, Tucson
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20100901
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20260831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5644a6fd408559b0f9184abb6cf4fd9ee0ca60e076745567d3e9d60a976001b9c684c6de4b8f0738e2ff0fdb8175e6408f09e3213155e3a22d9878bc8822d70a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/219055/cdc_219055_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.02 MB ]