On October 12th and 13th, 2022 Eugene Gyawu, a PhD student with the MINE SUSTAINABILITY MODELING RESEARCH GROUP, gave a presentation entitled “Eliciting Inputs from Underground Coal Miners on Interventions to Facilitate Better Self Escape: Lessons for Training” at the Training Resources Applied to Mining (TRAM) Annual Conference. The conference took place at the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) Academy in Beckley, West Virginia.
At the conference, Eugene presented the results of an ongoing research funded by CDC-NIOSH, which seeks to elicit feedback from underground coal miners on interventions required for self-escape in underground coal mines. He presented miners’ views on the usefulness of 21 proposed interventions to improve confidence in self-escape knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs). Interventions related to the functionality and usability of self-contained self-rescuers (SCSRs) ranked high on the usefulness ratings. Eugene discussed the result of the survey and how it can inform training and the interplay between training and good human-centered design. His main conclusions were that:
1. Miners’ confidence in KSAs related to a mines’ ERP might be increased through training
2. Similarly, their confidence in KSAs related to tetherline/taglines might be increased through training
3. The industry should adopt human-centered design approaches to develop technological interventions to aid miners in their self-escape.