Mining Publication: Incorporating Judgment and Decisionmaking into Quarterly Mine Escape Training Based on a Mine Fire Scenario

The major coal mine disasters of 2006 raised a number of issues about mine emergency preparedness and response. These included concerns about miners’ judgment and decisionmaking skills under the stress of a mine escape and miners’ familiarity with escape procedures. In response, researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) sought to learn how mines are incorporating judgment and decisionmaking skills into mine escape training. They took an in-depth look at previous research on judgment and decisionmaking in self-rescue and escape training. They also conducted interviews with safety and training personnel from six underground coal operations to understand how mine operators are conducting mandatory quarterly escape training. This report discusses findings from these interviews, presents an analysis of previous research on judgment and decisionmaking in self-rescue and escape, and offers guidance to trainers on how to build judgment and decisionmaking into quarterly training drills.