Supervisor Training

This online, noncredit, tutorial course is being developed to give safety professionals and executives a broader understanding of the mining cycle without the need or time required to pursue a university degree in mining. The course has almost 90 micro-learning modules and over 200 hours of content which are designed around the Mine Trainer Competency Model. The course considers numerous aspects of mining, including: Earth Processes, Mineral Exploration, Supply-Demand, Business of Mining, Mine Development, Mining Methods, Processing, Health and Safety, Environmental Stewardship, and Social License to Operate. Learning modules will be provided to address all sectors of the industry. The module design allows learners drill down on specific content according to their needs.

A joint project with the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources, the Mining 101 course is currently in development with delivery expected in 2021. The course will be made available through the University of Arizona's Continuing and Professional Education (CaPE) Program.

Download the Mining 101 Syllabus DRAFT (PDF) for more information.

The Mining Institute for Supervisor Leadership (MISL) gathers the expertise of top educators, safety directors, and managers from academia and industry to provide this mining-specific, mentor-focused leadership institute. The MISL offers training to enhance leadership using techniques that balance health and safety with optimized operations. This intensive program includes a 3-day (24 hour) course covering topics such as hazards recognition and mitigation, law and policy, miner physical and mental health, root cause analysis, safety-focused leadership, and supervisor responsibilities. It also covers soft skills for conflict resolution, workplace training and meetings, resource optimization, and team-building. Each topic will be delivered by leaders in mining. Individual participation is required throughout the program; each participant (Mentee) will be assigned two Mentors who will guide the Mentee in applying MISL techniques to work activities through a formal, monthly communication. Note that future offerings of the MISL will use a blended delivery format with principally online interaction coupled with a face-to-face Leadership Outcomes presentation.

Download the MISL flyer and agenda template (PDFs) for more information.

To ensure miners can function effectively in an emergency, a train-to-mastery system is needed with established competency standards. This eight hour workshop provides a hands-on and competency-based emergency preparedness training curriculum. It includes the use of computer-based serious games, such as Harry's Hard Choices, and exercise guidance, based on national Homeland Security exercise design and conduct standards, to test and improve miner resilience and support successful self-escape. The workshop also highlights key social and behavioral responses to high stress situations. The Incident Command, Escape & Rescue Guide is used in conjunction with this workshop. Funding was provided in part by MSHA through the Brookwood-Sago Mine Safety Grants Program.

Download the workshop flyer and agenda template (PDFs) for more information.

Although the mining industry understands the value of sharing lessons in safety through data collection and reporting on incidents and fatalities, there are few avenues to share strategies on prevention and mitigation. This workshop was designed to address this problem by providing a framework and venue for experts to identify and share the critical controls used in preventing material unwanted events (MUEs). To date, dozens of geotechnical controls have been collected. This workshop presents a five-step process to gather information that includes: Identifying top MUEs, selecting the best controls to prevent them, discussing the characteristics of these controls, documenting them in a standard way, and following-up for post-workshop feedback. Tutorials are provided on the hierarchy of controls with examples of failures. The workshop emphasizes group discussion and brainstorming, with polling apps used to survey answers. Participants will leave the workshop with the latest copy of our critical controls database to share with their organizations.

Download the white paper^[1] and agenda template (PDFs) for more information.