Strategies to stay safe in your mining job

A mining accident can result in numerous fatalities. For example, if a mine shaft collapses and traps a number of people, or blocks off their air supply, the results can be devastating. As such, workers and their supervisors need to make every effort to prevent such a catastrophe.

Here are a few things you can do to prevent a mining accident from happening:

• Ensure that all workers are trained in safety protocol: Extensive training required for every mine worker in order to help him or her avoid injury. Minors should therefore complete all mandatory training and take advantage of as much optional training as possible.
• Provide refresher training courses to miners: Just like all other employees, miners will forget certain essential safety practices over time. As such, it’s vital to retrain and offer refresher safety courses to miners to keep the information fresh.
• Simulation programs: One great way to help keep miners on their toes in terms of safety is to offer simulation programs through virtual reality simulators and machinery simulators. These devices can simulate real mining conditions in a safe and controlled way to help miners know what to do in the case of a serious accident.
• Make sure that blasters are licensed: Anyone working in blasting operations needs to have the right kind of training and be licensed to use explosives.
• Use personal protective equipment: All miners should be equipped with appropriate safety equipment for the particular jobs they’re performing.

When a workplace accident happens at a mine and a New York miner gets hurt, the injured worker can pursue workers’ compensation to help pay for his or her medical care.