Mining Projects

NIOSH Mining projects are competitively funded intramural research based on focused scientific questions or hypotheses aimed to address a relevant challenge in protecting the health and safety of mine workers. Each project has a principal investigator (PI) who directs the research and writes a funding proposal, including the planned research aims, the work to be done, the NIOSH Mining facilities and outside partners who will be involved, and the needed personnel and budget. At the completion of a project, typical outputs are new or improved design guidelines, physical products, software packages, or new information published in peer-reviewed journals or as NIOSH numbered publications. Most projects are funded for four years, and pilot projects are funded for one year.

Note: Click on the column headings to sort ascending/descending or use the search box to narrow results by keyword. Left click the tabs to view current or completed projects.

Current projects only

Title	Short Description	Topic Area(s)	PI(s)
Advanced Mining Seismicity Processing	A project to explore and refine advanced event detection, location, and magnitude estimation methods that can be used to increase seismic catalog quality.	Ground Monitoring	Derrick Chambers
Advancement of Refuge Alternatives for Underground Coal Mines	A project to minimize the risk of heat illness for miners entering an RA, ensure the availability of air delivery and purging systems for RAs, facilitate the use of BIP RAs, and develop a reliable communications system for RAs.	Refuge Chambers	David Yantek
Alternative Mining Methods in Challenging Environments	A project to reduce injuries and fatalities caused by rockburst-related ground failures in underground mines by developing an integrated, systematic approach for monitoring mining-induced seismic events.	Ground Monitoring	Joseph Seymour
Analysis of Health and Safety Management System Practices Through Multilevel Interventions	Identify and characterize H&S performance practices through worker-technology-management interactions to provide guidance about risk processes with a focus on management of site risks and improvement in H&S values through empowering initiatives.	Education and Training Emergency Management Respirable Dust Respiratory Diseases	Emily Haas
An Analysis of Health and Safety Management Systems in Mining	A pilot project to identify leading indicators in health and safety management practices unique to the mining industry and compare them against the leading indicators of mature occupational health and safety programs.	Education and Training Emergency Management	Dana Reinke Willmer
Applicability of Proximity Detection to Mobile Underground Coal Equipment	A project to determine whether the proximity detection systems currently available to the underground coal mining industry provide protection to miners working near mobile haulage equipment such as shuttle cars and scoops.	Proximity Detection	Jacob Carr
Assessing and Evaluating Human Systems Integration Needs in Mining	A project to use a systems approach to characterize what information needs to be provided to mine workers, determine the timing and format of that information, and then use this information to develop alternatives to interfaces design.	Interface and Job Design	Jennica Bellanca
Assessing Elevated Stress Due to Full Extraction Mining	A project to develop engineering-based stress analysis procedures for improved assessment of stress-related hazards due to full extraction mining.	Ground Control Overview Ground Monitoring	Ted Klemetti
Assessing the Safety Culture of Coal Mining	A project to work with a consultant, Human Performance Analysis, to assess the safety culture at U.S. coal mines.	Education and Training	Carin Kosmoski
Battery Safety Enhancements for Underground Coal Mines	A project to make recommendations and guide policy or program decisions regarding the safety of batteries used in underground coal mines.	Electrical Safety	Thomas H. Dubaniewicz

Page last reviewed: 10/13/2016
Page last updated: 10/13/2016
Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health , Mining Program

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) NIOSH Mining

NIOSH Homepage

Mining Projects

File Formats Help: