No. 491 June 2001

NIOSH Releases Two New Safety Training Videos

Objective

To develop safety training tools for mine health and safety

trainers that fill gaps in currently available materials and help

capture the wisdom and knowledge of Aexpert miners.@

Background

NIOSH began a series of stakeholder meetings in 1998 to

determine what research was needed to improve miner health and

safety. One of the more common concerns among stakeholders was

a critical lack of appropriate training materials applicable to

metal/nonmetal mining. Participants provided many insights into

what effective training materials should include and how materials

could best reach both new and experienced miners. The most

important factors were that any materials be realistic and interesting

and that some way must be found to capture the wisdom of expert

miners before they retired.

Approach

NIOSH researchers chose videos as the best means of achieving

these training goals. Over the past 3 years, NIOSH has produced

three training videos that present information on safe work practices

in underground mines: handling explosives, recognizing roof

hazards and using proper scaling techniques, and installing ground

supports. The last two videos, ARock FallsBPreventing Rock Fall

Injuries in Underground Mines@ and AMiner Mike Saves the DayB

orBGround SupportYIt=s Important,@ have won Alice Hamilton

awards, NIOSH=s highest recognition of Excellence in Occupational

Safety and Health, in the Educational Materials category.

Two new videos are now being released. Both of these videos

were shot completely in operating underground hard-rock mines and

used expert miners to tell the story. 

Hazards In Motion

The first, AHazards in Motion,@ deals with the dangers of working

around mobile equipment in an underground mine. Ben, a new

trainee, refuses to pay attention in his 40-hour New Miner Training

class, and when the class takes its first trip underground, he wanders

off and finds himself in many dangerous situations. He encounters

many experienced miners who both chew him out for his unsafe

attitude and give him advice and information on how to survive

around mobile equipment. Many common pieces of equipment are

shown, including haulage trucks, LHD=s, tracks and trains, slushers,

skips and hoists, and air doors. The dangers of ignoring signals and

of horseplay are also included. 

After nearly losing his life numerous times, Ben learns his lesson

with the help of the Safety Angel, an experienced miner who looks

suspiciously like his safety trainer. Ben=s Safety Angel saves his life

repeatedly, teaches him how to work safely around these common

conveyances, and introduces him to experts who have specific safety

tips. Ben learns the error of his ways and vows to be the safest miner

in the mine. AHazards in Motion@ is approximately 30 minutes long.

Hidden Scars

The second video is the first in the NIOSH AExpert Miner@ series.

AHidden Scars@ is a narrative interview with Don Capparelli, a miner

and supervisor at the Sunshine Mine in north Idaho. This video

captures the story of a fatal rock burst in May 1994, when Don was

seriously injured and his long-time partner, Jimmy Findley, was

killed. 

AHidden Scars@ is a very powerful story. Don Capparelli shares

the physical and emotional pain he lives with daily as he relates

the events leading up to the rock burst that took the life of his

best friend and partner. This video is an excellent reminder of

the human cost of uncontrolled accidents and the hidden scars that

survivors must deal with for the rest of their lives. It runs approximately 25 minutes.
Figure 1.—Hazards In Motion. Figure 2.—Don Capparelli–Hidden Scars.

For More Information

Additional information can be obtained by contacting Elaine

Cullen (509) 354-8057, e-mail ecullen@cdc.gov. Spokane Research

Laboratory, E. 315 Montgomery, Spokane WA 99207.

To receive additional information about occupational safety

and health problems, call 1-800-35-NIOSH (1-800-356-4674),

or visit the NIOSH Web site at www.cdc.gov/niosh

Mention of any company name or product does not constitute

endorsement by the National Institute for Occupational Safety

and Health.