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Working as a team

SOME mining health and safety problems are both pervasive and difficult to solve and more often than not the underlying causes of the problems are poorly understood and the possible solutions are unknown or subject to debate.

Angie Tomlinson
Working as a team

It is therefore not surprising that government agencies, industry, and labor sometimes have very different views about the nature of the problem or the means to solve it.

Yet according to NIOSH Pittsburgh Research Laboratory director Jeffrey Kohler, a successful solution demands both the cooperation and collaboration of all three groups.

“Accordingly, partnerships have become a proven and crucial approach to improve mineworker health and safety. Each party, government, industry and labor, brings a necessary component to solve the problem at hand, in the spirit of working with them, rather than against them," said Kohler.

The driver for a partnership might be an unacceptable situation, such as the continuing prevalence of coal worker pneumoconiosis, or it might be a new regulation scheduled to take effect for which serious technical questions exist, such as with the diesel regulation.

Typically, one or more of the affected parties suggests the possibility of addressing the problem in partnership. A meeting is scheduled, the various stakeholders are invited, and the issues are discussed.

“It is important to define precisely the goals of the partnership and the general conditions of the partnership. It is also important to ensure participation by key stakeholders, e.g. labor unions, trade associations, and manufacturers. While broad participation is desired, smaller groups are more responsive and able to meet more easily,” he said.

Kohler added that historically partnerships in the U.S. had relied on NIOSH to be the honest broker of the science, and in this role, NIOSH has been successful in moving the partnerships forward, even when industry or labor were not thrilled with the findings at any particular stage of the partnership.

The partnerships have defined the problems, the questions to be answered, and the relevant lab and in-mine tests. Data and the ensuing analyses are presented to the partnership, and the robust discussions that follow are helpful in making progress.

In addition to providing ideas and information, the partners provide equipment, mine sites, and other in-kind assistance. Sometimes, full-day workshops are conducted and non-partners are invited to attend and participate.

Kohler said the success of the partnerships is built on the trust that NIOSH earned through many instances of being the "honest" broker, but the successes have also depended heavily on labor and industry's willingness to "roll up their sleeves" and get the job done, in a way that makes sense and ensures the well being of the mining industry's single most valuable resource -- the mine worker.

This is the first article in a four part series on Power Partnerships brokered by NIOSH. International Longwall News will speak to NIOSH on developments in dust control, diesel particulate and noise control looking at the players, recent developments and future research.

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