Serious About Safety: Miners and MSHA

The Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is a government agency that manages health and safety standards in the mining industry. Every mine site employee must participate in a MSHA new miner training course. This includes personnel working in underground sites, surface sites, and other mining operations that expose workers to hazards.

Title 30 (Mineral Resources), Part 46 of the Code of Federal Regulations (30 CFR 46) contains the MSHA regulations governing the mandatory training of employees working in the following types of surface mining conditions:

• Stone
• Sand
• Gravel
• Clay
• Traprock
• Limestone
• Colloidal Phosphate
• Shell Dredging
• Crushed Stone
• Granite
• Sandstone
• Slate
• Shale
• Kaolin
• Cement
• Feldspar
• Lime

Additional regulations related to the training and retraining of miners in both surface and underground mining is covered under 30 CFR 48. Regulations in both 46 and 48 are covered in the MSHA new miner training courses. This training is required for both new miners and newly-hired experienced personnel.

New miners must complete four hours of new miner training before they can work at a mine site. This ensures that new miners know how to prevent accidents and how to implement emergency procedures should an incident occur.

Within 90 days of being hired, new miners are required to complete 24 training hours on topics mandated by 30 CFR 46 and 48. Until the training hours requirement is met, the miner must work under the supervision of an experienced minor to ensure work is performed safely.

The MSHA new miner training course covers a variety of important subjects relevant to mining operations, including emergency procedures, hazards present in the work environment, health and safety standards, legal requirements in the industry, and more.

30 CFR 46 and 30 CFR 48 also require mine operators to offer programs for new task training, site-specific hazard awareness, annual refresher training, and training for newly hired, experienced miners. Because MSHA strives to always improve safety standards at mine sites, annual refresher training ensures that experienced miners know the latest rules and regulations.

With so many components involved in maintaining health and safety at a mine site, in-person training can be inconvenient. MSHA new miner training online reduces downtime and eliminates the need for travel. Compliance Training Online provides convenient 30 CFR 46 and 48 training that can be used as part of a company's overall training plan.

Our online training courses give miners the ability to study online whenever their schedule allows. Rainy days and delayed projects become opportunities to work on course sections, and training progress is easy to track through the online management system.

Compliance Training Online offers multiple courses for MSHA training requirements. In addition to the 30 CFR 46 and 30 CFR 48 new miner training required before a new employee can start work, our course catalog also features health and safety programs for experienced miners, refresher courses, training plans, and more.