NIOSH Releases New Skills Training Aid: 

Walk-Thru Roof Bolting Machine Trainer’s Guide 

Information Circular (IC) 9489 

 In the U.S. coal mining industry, a large cohort of 

miners is at or nearing retirement age. As these 

miners retire, there will be a need to hire and train 

thousands of new and most likely younger workers. 

Moreover, a large portion of safety trainers will also 

require replacement due to retirement. In a speech 

before the U.S. House of Representatives (2004), 

Bruce Watzman, Vice President for Safety, Health 

and Human Resources for the National Mining 

Association said, “[W]e will need to replace a major 

portion, approximately 50%, of the underground coal 

mining workforce within the next 5–7 years.” The 

large influx of new mine workers, along with the 

deficit in safety trainers, creates the challenge to provide consistent and effective safety training. 

 Given the expected high turnover of the mining 

workforce, it is very likely that incoming workers will 

have much less experience than those leaving the 

workforce. Unfortunately, inexperienced miners have 

been shown to incur the highest rate of injuries. The 

piece of machinery most associated with these 

injuries is the roof bolting machine, which accounts 

for 56% of machinery-related injuries in underground 

coal mining. 

 The National Institute for Occupational Safety and 

Health (NIOSH) has released a new report entitled 

“Roof Bolting Machine Operators Skills Training for 

a Walk-Thru Roof Bolter: Trainer’s Guide” (IC 9489). 

It is designed to help safety trainers develop structured training for new operators of walk-thru bolting 

machines. This resource will help trainees learn, 

understand, and apply knowledge and skills. Included 

in the trainer’s guide are the following tools: 

a six-part DVD video series, a skills check survey, 

talking points, and a complete job training analysis. 

Also included is an exercise to help trainees learn 

more about their mine’s roof control plan, as well as a 

list of supplemental training and reading materials. 

On-site trainers can modify this guide to fit their 

particular mine conditions, machines and equipment, 

and work procedures. 

 The goal of every coal mine safety professional is 

to increase safety awareness and make mines a safer 

place to work. The Walk-Thru Bolting Machine 

Trainer’s Guide will help teach new miners skills to 

create a safer working environment that will ultimately 

prevent or reduce on-the-job injuries. Safety trainers 

can also use the ideas and concepts from this guide to 

develop their own training skills for the safe operation 

of other pieces of underground coal mining equipment. 

No. 525 June 2007 
 To order a free copy of the Walk-Thru Bolting 

Machine Trainer’s Guide, contact Susan B. Bealko, M.S., 

M.P.H., at (412) 386–6720, e-mail: SBealko@cdc.gov. 

Or you may complete the order form below, detach, and 

mail to Susan B. Bealko, NIOSH Pittsburgh Research 

Laboratory, P.O. Box 18070, Pittsburgh, PA 15236–

0070, or fax to (412) 386–4865. 

To receive other information about occupational 

safety and health topics, 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. 

DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2007–145

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