How refresher training works

• Every miner gets at least 8 hours of refresher training every 12 months.
• Your first refresher is due within 12 months after you start work at the mine. After that, each one is due within 12 months of the last one you finished.
• MSHA counts this by month. If you finished last year's refresher in March, this year's is due by the end of March.
• The 8 hours can be split into sessions. Each session is recorded, and you get a certified copy of your record once the 8 hours are done.
• Refresher training happens during normal working hours, and you're paid your normal rate for it.

30 CFR §46.8(a) · §46.9 · §46.10 · MSHA Part 46 compliance guide, §46.8

Changes at your mine come first

Refresher training has to cover changes at your mine that could affect your health or safety. That's the part of this training that matters most, because a mine never stays the same for a year. Think about what's different since your last refresher:

• New or rebuilt equipment, or equipment moved to a new area
• A new pit, bench, haul road, stockpile area, or traffic pattern
• New procedures, such as a new lockout procedure or radio protocol
• New chemicals, new contractors on site, or new tasks you've been assigned
• Accidents, injuries, and near misses at your mine, and what was changed because of them

This course can't know what changed at your mine. Your competent person covers that with you in person. The activity below helps you get ready for that conversation.

30 CFR §46.8(b)

Your rights, refreshed

Report a hazard

Anyone can report a hazardous condition to MSHA at 1-800-746-1553, 24 hours a day, or online. You don't have to give your name.

Request an inspection

You or your miners' representative can ask MSHA for an immediate inspection if you believe there's a violation or an imminent danger.

Refuse unsafe work

You can refuse work you reasonably and in good faith believe is unsafe. Tell your supervisor what the hazard is.

No retaliation

You can't be punished for raising safety concerns, reporting injuries, refusing unsafe work, or talking to MSHA. If it happens, you have 60 days to file a discrimination complaint with MSHA.

Training records

You get a certified copy of your refresher record after the 8 hours are done, and copies of your training records if you ask when you leave.

Mine Act §103(g) · §105(c) · 30 CFR §46.9

New tasks and new equipment

Refresher training doesn't replace task training. Before you do a task you haven't done before, or run equipment that's new to you, you get task training on its hazards, safe work procedures, and the standards that apply. That includes a new model of a machine you already run, if it operates differently. Ask for it.

30 CFR §46.7

MSHA rule changes to know about

Mobile equipment safety program

Surface mines with mobile equipment must have a written safety program for it. The program identifies equipment hazards, sets maintenance schedules, looks at new safety technology, and covers training. It's reviewed at least once a year, with input from miners. You can ask for a copy at no cost.

Workplace examinations

Each working place is examined before work begins in it each shift. You're told about hazards found in your area, and the record shows what was found and when it was fixed.

Respirable silica

MSHA issued a rule in 2024 that lowers the silica exposure limit. In April 2026 MSHA paused enforcement of that rule at metal and nonmetal mines while court challenges continue, so the older limits are being enforced for now. The way you protect yourself hasn't changed. Module 11 covers it.

30 CFR §56.23000–56.23004 · §56.18002

Where the rules are

30 CFR Part 56

Safety and health standards for surface metal and nonmetal mines, including sand, gravel, and stone.

30 CFR Part 46

Training for miners at these mines, including this refresher.

30 CFR Part 47

Hazard communication: chemical labels, Safety Data Sheets, and the mine's HazCom program.

30 CFR Part 62

Occupational noise exposure and hearing conservation.

30 CFR Part 50

Reporting accidents, injuries, and illnesses to MSHA.

Standards you work with every day

Pre-shift inspections

• Self-propelled mobile equipment is inspected before it's used on each shift.
• Defects that affect safety are corrected in a timely way.
• If a defect makes the equipment hazardous to use, it's taken out of service and tagged until it's fixed.
• Defects that aren't corrected right away are reported to the mine operator and recorded.

An inspection only works if you do it the same way every time. Walk all the way around, look underneath, and test brakes, steering, horn, backup alarm, and lights before you move.

30 CFR §56.14100

Workplace exams

A competent person examines each working place each shift before miners begin work there. Conditions that could hurt someone are written down, the miners affected are told, and corrective action starts promptly. If the examiner finds an imminent danger, everyone is withdrawn from the area until it's fixed. Records are kept for at least one year.

The exam doesn't replace your own look. Conditions change during a shift.

30 CFR §56.18002

Maintenance and repair

• Raised beds, buckets, booms, and blades are lowered or securely blocked before anyone works under them. A hydraulic cylinder alone isn't a block.
• Before a tire is removed for repair, deflate it. Inflate repaired tires in a cage or with a clip-on chuck and a long hose, standing out of the path of the rim if it lets go.
• Use the right hand tool for the job and inspect it first. Keep guards on grinders and saws.
• Before welding or cutting, clear combustibles, have an extinguisher ready, and check tanks and lines for fuel or other flammables. Keep a fire watch when required.
• Use lifting equipment rated for the load, and keep clear of suspended loads.

30 CFR §56.14104 · §56.14211 · §56.4600–56.4604

How powered haulage accidents happen

• A large truck or loader runs over or into a pickup or a person on foot that the operator couldn't see.
• Equipment goes over the edge of a road, bench, or dump point, often with the operator not wearing a seat belt.
• Equipment rolls away because the brake wasn't set or the wheels weren't chocked.
• A miner is caught in a conveyor. MSHA counts conveyors as powered haulage.
• Brakes or steering fail on a grade.

2025 figures: MSHA data reported by Pit & Quarry, January 2026 (unofficial year-end count)

Traffic controls

• Follow your mine's traffic plan: speed limits, right-of-way, one-way roads, and left-hand traffic where it's used.
• Berms on elevated roads are at least mid-axle height of the largest equipment that normally uses the road. Dump points have a berm, bumper block, or similar restraint where a truck could overtravel.
• A berm guides and warns. It won't stop a loaded truck at speed.
• Report soft spots, washouts, low berms, missing signs, and dust that cuts visibility.
• At night, make sure your lights work and are clean, and slow down where lighting is poor.

30 CFR §56.9100 · §56.9300 · §56.9301

Communication

• Use the radio channel and call-outs your mine requires: entering a haul road, passing, approaching a loader, and stopping in a travel lane.
• Say who you are, where you are, and what you're doing. Wait for an answer before you move.
• Know the horn signals. A common set is one blast before starting, two before moving forward, and three before backing, but follow your mine's signals.
• If your radio fails, stop in a safe spot and don't continue until you can communicate.
• No phone use while operating equipment or driving on mine property.

Light vehicles and people on foot

• Pickups and service trucks on haul roads use the lights, beacons, flags, and radio call-outs your mine requires.
• Park where large equipment operators can see you, never in a travel lane or behind a parked haul truck.
• Approach a loader or haul truck on foot only after positive contact and a signal from the operator, with the bucket down and brake set.
• Customer drivers stay in their trucks in the load-out area unless your mine's rules say otherwise.

Technology helps, and it can fail

Many mines now use cameras, proximity detection, collision warning systems, and seat belt interlocks. Your mine's mobile equipment safety program looks at which ones to use. They help. They also get dirty, get bypassed, and fail. Keep cameras clean, report systems that don't work, and keep making positive contact the old way.

30 CFR §56.23003

Excavators

• Swing area. The counterweight swings out past the tracks. Anyone caught between it and the machine, a truck, or a wall can be crushed. Barricade the swing area where people work nearby, and stay out of it.
• Positive contact. Before you approach on foot, get the operator's attention by radio or from where they can see you. Wait for a signal, with the bucket on the ground and the controls locked.
• Quick couplers. After every attachment change, confirm the locking pin is fully engaged, using the manufacturer's check. A bucket that isn't locked can drop without warning.
• Edges. Keep the tracks back from bench edges, pond banks, and excavations. Ground near an edge can give way under the machine.
• Lifting. Lift loads with an excavator only when the manufacturer allows it, using its rated lift point and lift chart. Never lift people in a bucket or use a bucket as a work platform.
• Moving and parking. Travel with the bucket low. When you leave the machine, lower the bucket to the ground and set the brakes and locks. On a grade, turn into a bank or chock it.

30 CFR §56.14206 · §56.14207 · §56.14200

Dozers on stockpiles and surge piles

A pile fed or drawn from below can hide a void. Material pulled out through a feeder or draw point can leave the surface bridged over an empty space. A dozer that breaks through can drop in and be buried with the operator inside.

• Know where every feeder, draw point, and reclaim tunnel is under the pile you're working.
• Don't push over an active draw point. Stop the feeders below before you work above them, following your mine's written procedure.
• Wear the seat belt and keep the cab door closed.
• At a dump edge, leave a berm, push material over the edge instead of following it, and know the slope limits for your machine.
• Get on and off facing the machine with three points of contact. Never jump.

30 CFR §56.16002 · §56.9301 · §56.14130

Dredges and floating equipment

• Wear a life jacket on the deck, walkways, pipeline, and skiff, anywhere there's a danger of falling into water.
• Board from a secured walkway or a tied-off boat. Keep handrails in place and decks clear of hoses, cable, and spillage.
• Stay out of the line of fire of winch cables, anchor lines, and spud cables under tension. A cable that parts snaps back with enough force to kill.
• Lock out the cutterhead, pump, and winches before you clear a blockage or work on them. Pipelines can hold pressure and separate at the joints.
• Keep power cables to the dredge protected, and report damage right away.
• Don't work alone on a dredge without a check-in plan. Cold water can disable a strong swimmer within minutes.

30 CFR §56.15020 · §56.11002 · §56.14105

Guarding

• Gears, sprockets, chains, drive, head, tail, and takeup pulleys, flywheels, couplings, and shafts that could injure someone are guarded.
• Guards stay in place while the machine runs. They come off only for testing or adjustments that can't be done with the guard on, and then the person has to be protected from the moving parts.
• A guard that's damaged, missing a section, or tied on with wire gets reported and fixed.
• Unguarded conveyors next to travelways need emergency stop devices or railings.

30 CFR §56.14107 · §56.14109 · §56.14112

Lockout, tagout, and blocking

Repairs and maintenance happen only after the power is off and the machine is blocked against hazardous motion. Electrical work needs the power locked out with your own lock.

1. Tell the people affected.
2. Shut down with the normal controls.
3. Isolate every energy source: electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, fuel, and gravity.
4. Put your own lock and tag on each disconnect.
5. Release or block stored energy. Block belts, raised parts, and material in chutes.
6. Try to start it, then return the controls to off.
7. When you're done, clear everyone, put guards back, and remove only your own lock.

At shift change, the incoming crew puts on their locks before the outgoing crew removes theirs. Contractors working on the same equipment lock out too.

30 CFR §56.12016 · §56.14105

Crushers

• Clear a jam only after the crusher and its feeder are locked out and the material above is controlled. Never stand on material in a crusher or hopper that's bridged over a void.
• Use the crusher's built-in clearing system or the mine's written procedure. Don't improvise with a bar while it's running.
• Crusher parts can hold a lot of stored energy. In late 2025, a contractor was killed while torch-cutting wedges from a cone crusher. Get a procedure from someone qualified before cutting or pressing parts that are under load.

Conveyors

• Cross only at crossovers, or where the belt is locked out.
• Know where the stop cords are, and test them on the schedule your mine uses.
• Clean spillage only with the belt locked out, unless it can be done from outside the guard with tools that keep you clear.
• Belt tracking and adjustment are done by trained people, with the belt stopped whenever they have to reach past a guard.

Hand tools and portable power tools

• Inspect tools before use. Take tools with cracked handles, mushroomed heads, or damaged cords out of service.
• Keep guards on grinders and saws, and use the right disc for the grinder's speed rating.
• Wear eye and face protection when grinding, cutting, chipping, or striking.
• Don't use a tool as a pry bar or a cheater bar on a wrench.
• Unplug or lock out power tools before changing blades or bits.

30 CFR §56.14116 · §56.15004

Before the lift

• The crane is inspected before use each shift, and the operator is trained on that crane.
• The operator knows the weight of the load, including rigging, and checks the load chart for the radius and setup.
• The crane is level, with outriggers fully extended on pads or firm ground. Soft ground, fill, and edges can give way.
• Look up. If the boom, the lines, or the load could come within 10 feet of a power line, the line is de-energized or other precautions are taken. People touching the load or the crane are at the greatest risk.
• Barricade the lift area and the crane's swing area.

30 CFR §56.14100 · §56.12071

Rigging

• Inspect slings, shackles, and hooks before each use. Take out wire rope with broken wires, kinks, birdcaging, crushing, or heat damage. Take out synthetic slings that are cut, burned, melted, or missing their tag.
• Hooks need a working safety latch. A hook with a bent or stretched throat comes out of service.
• Use hitches and slings suited to the load. Pad sharp edges.
• Watch the sling angle. At 30 degrees from horizontal, each leg of a two-leg sling carries the full weight of the load.

30 CFR §56.16007

During the lift

• One signal person directs the operator, using signals agreed on before the lift. Anyone can signal stop.
• Lift the load a few inches first. Check the balance, the rigging, and the brakes before going higher.
• Attach taglines to loads that may need steadying or guidance while suspended.
• Stay clear of suspended loads. Never walk or work under one, and never ride a load or a hook.
• Swing slowly. Never swing a load before it's lifted clear, and don't drag loads sideways.
• Set loads down on blocking so slings can be removed without reaching under the load.

30 CFR §56.16007 · §56.16009 · §56.16011

Forklifts, telehandlers, and loaders with forks

• Know the capacity chart. A telehandler's capacity drops as the boom extends.
• Travel with the load low and tilted back. On a grade, keep the load on the uphill side.
• No riders. Wear the seat belt. Watch overhead clearance and power lines.
• Lift people only in a platform approved for that machine.

Lifting by hand and storing material

• Screen panels, liners, idlers, and rollers are heavy and awkward. Plan the lift, clear your path, and get help or use a hoist.
• Keep the load close and lift with your legs. Watch your fingers at pinch points when you set it down.
• Stack and store material so it can't fall and doesn't create a tripping hazard.
• Secure gas cylinders upright, with valve covers on when they're stored or moved.

30 CFR §56.16001 · §56.16005 · §56.16006

Blocking raised equipment

• Don't work on top of, under, or from mobile equipment in a raised position until it's blocked or mechanically secured so it can't roll or fall.
• Don't work under or on a raised component, like a truck bed, bucket, boom, or blade, until it's blocked or mechanically secured so it can't drop. Secure the machine against rolling too.
• Use the body prop pin, the manufacturer's lock, or rated cribbing. A working load-locking device that prevents a free fall also counts.
• A hydraulic cylinder by itself isn't a block. Neither is a jack.

30 CFR §56.14211 · §56.14105

Stored energy and hydraulics

• Stored energy hides in springs, accumulators, pressurized hydraulic and air lines, tensioned belts and chains, and parts that can fall or roll. Release it or block it before you start.
• Relieve hydraulic pressure before you loosen a fitting or disconnect a hose.
• A pinhole hydraulic leak can inject fluid through your skin. Never find a leak with your hand. Use cardboard or wood.
• An injection injury may look like a small puncture. It's a medical emergency. Get to a doctor right away and say it was a high-pressure injection.

Tires

• Before a tire comes off for repair, remove the valve core partway so it deflates slowly, then take it out. Stand out of the path a rim part could take.
• Inflate a repaired tire in a cage or other restraint that will hold the rim parts, or use a clip-on chuck with a long hose so you stand out of the path.
• Never weld on, cut, or heat a rim with the tire mounted. Heat can make the tire explode.

30 CFR §56.14104

Welding and cutting

• Move combustibles away or cover them. Look for fuel, hydraulic oil, and grease you can't see.
• Have an extinguisher right at the job. For arc welding, or an open flame near electrical hazards, use a multipurpose dry chemical extinguisher or one rated at least 2-A:10-B:C.
• Never weld or cut on a tank, drum, or pipe that held a flammable liquid or gas until it's drained, ventilated, and cleaned, or filled with water or inert gas.
• Keep a fire watch during and after the work when it's required.
• Use ventilation. Fumes from coatings like galvanizing and from manganese in some rods are harmful. Wear a respirator if it's required.
• Wear the right helmet shade, gloves, and flame-resistant clothing. Protect people nearby from arc flash with screens.

30 CFR §56.4600 · §56.4604

Gas cylinders

• Secure cylinders upright. Keep valve covers on when they're stored or moved.
• Don't store oxygen in areas used for flammable liquids, oil, or grease.
• Keep gauges and regulators clean of oil and grease.
• Close cylinder valves when you're not using the gas.

30 CFR §56.4601 · §56.4602 · §56.4603 · §56.16005 · §56.16006

Highwalls and benches

• Ground conditions are examined before work starts in an area, after blasting, and as conditions change during the shift. Loose ground is taken down or the area is barricaded.
• Warning signs: cracks along the crest, loose rock or overhangs, bulging, water seeping from the face, and fresh material at the toe.
• Keep equipment and people back from the crest and the toe. Don't undercut a face.
• Rain, freeze-thaw cycles, and blasting all loosen ground. Look again after each.

30 CFR §56.3200 · §56.3401

Stockpiles, surge piles, and bins

• Never walk on a stockpile or surge pile. Material drawn from below can leave a void that collapses under you.
• Stay back from the toe of a pile being worked, and from a face that's been undercut by a loader.
• Before anyone enters a bin, hopper, or silo, material flow is stopped, feed and discharge equipment are locked out, and the person wears a harness with a lifeline tended by someone outside.

30 CFR §56.16002

Water

• Wear a life jacket wherever there's a danger of falling into water: dredges, pond edges, booster pumps, and wash plant sumps.
• Pond and pit edges can be undercut by water and give way under equipment. In December 2025, two miners drowned when a dragline went into a water-filled pit.
• Know where throw rings and rescue lines are kept. Don't go into the water after someone unless you're trained and equipped.

30 CFR §56.15020

Falls and access

• Use fall protection wherever there's a danger of falling. Tie off to an anchor rated for it.
• Use handrails and toeboards on walkways and platforms. Report missing or loose rails.
• Use three points of contact on ladders and equipment. Don't carry tools in your hands while climbing.
• Keep travelways clear of spillage, hoses, and ice.
• Work areas at night need enough light to see hazards. Report lights that are out.

30 CFR §56.11001 · §56.11002 · §56.15005 · §56.17001

Who works on electrical equipment

• Only qualified persons work on electrical circuits and equipment.
• The power is off and locked out with the person's own lock, and warning tags are posted, before work starts.
• Grounding systems are tested when installed or repaired and at least once a year, and the records are kept.

30 CFR §56.12016 · §56.12017 · §56.12028

Hazards everyone needs to recognize

• Overhead lines. If equipment or material could come within 10 feet of a power line, the line is de-energized or other precautions are taken. Raised beds, booms, and long material are the usual cause.
• Damaged cords and cables. Cuts, crushed spots, exposed conductors, and broken plugs. Take them out of service.
• Missing covers. Electrical boxes and panels keep their covers on. Report open boxes.
• Water. Wet ground, wash plants, and pumps raise the risk. Use ground-fault protection where your mine requires it.
• Breakers that keep tripping. A trip means there's a fault. Report it instead of resetting it again.
• Panels and switchgear. An arc flash can burn you from several feet away. Stay out of energized panels unless you're qualified and wearing the right protection.

30 CFR §56.12004 · §56.12032 · §56.12071

If equipment contacts a power line

1. Stay in the cab. The ground around the machine may be energized.
2. Warn others to stay away from the machine and anything touching it.
3. Call for help and have the power shut off.
4. Leave only if there's a fire or other immediate danger. Then jump clear with both feet together, without touching the machine and the ground at the same time, and shuffle away with small steps.

Generators, welders, and portable equipment

• Ground portable generators and welding machines the way the manufacturer and your mine require.
• Keep cords and leads out of water and off travelways, or protect them where equipment crosses.
• Shut equipment off before refueling a generator. Never run one in an enclosed space.
• Inspect welding leads and holders before use, and replace damaged ones.

Emergencies

• Make the scene safe for you before you help. Stop and lock out equipment, and stay clear of electrical hazards and unstable ground.
• Call for help the way your mine requires. Give your location, what happened, and how many are hurt.
• Get the first aid trained person on your shift, and send someone to meet the ambulance.
• The mine has to report serious accidents to MSHA within 15 minutes. Don't disturb the scene except to rescue someone, prevent more danger, or keep equipment from being destroyed.
• At the evacuation alarm, use your escape route, or your second way out if the first is blocked, and check in at the assembly area.

30 CFR §50.10 · §50.12 · §56.4330 · §56.18010

Fire prevention and firefighting

• Common causes: hydraulic and fuel leaks onto hot parts, welding and cutting, belts rubbing on seized idlers, electrical faults, and oily rags.
• Shut engines off when fueling. No smoking where it's posted.
• Extinguishers are visually inspected every month. Report one that's missing, discharged, or out of date.
• Fight a fire only if it's small, not spreading, and you have a clear way out behind you. Otherwise get out and call it in.
• On an equipment fire: stop, shut down, activate the suppression system if there is one, get off, and get away.

30 CFR §56.4101 · §56.4201 · §56.4230

Explosives and blasting

If your mine blasts, or you work near a quarry that does:

• Know the warning signals and the blast schedule. Leave the blast area when told, and stay out until the all-clear.
• Don't drive past a blast guard or barricade.
• Flyrock can travel much farther than expected. Shelter where the blaster tells you to.
• If you find explosives, a misfire, or anything that looks like a detonator, detonating cord, or shock tube, don't touch it. Keep people away and report it to the blaster or your supervisor.
• Only trained and qualified persons handle, load, or fire explosives.

30 CFR Part 56, Subpart E

Silica

Crushing, screening, drilling, and driving on dry roads put respirable crystalline silica in the air. It can cause silicosis, lung cancer, COPD, and kidney disease.

• Keep cab doors and windows closed with the filtered air running.
• Report water sprays, dust collectors, and cab filters that aren't working.
• Don't dry sweep or blow off clothes with compressed air.
• Wear your respirator when required, and wear it right.
• Cooperate with dust sampling. Ask to see your results.

MSHA's 2024 silica rule lowers the exposure limit and adds sampling and medical exams. Enforcement at metal and nonmetal mines is paused while court challenges continue, so the older limits are being enforced. The controls above protect you either way.

Noise

At or above 85 dBA averaged over a shift, a miner is in a hearing conservation program with hearing tests. The limit is 90 dBA, and no one can be exposed above 115 dBA. Every 5 dB louder cuts the allowed time in half.

30 CFR Part 62

Heat

• Drink water often, before you're thirsty. Rest in the shade.
• Workers new to the heat, or back after time off, need several days to adjust.
• Watch each other. Confusion or strange behavior in the heat means heat stroke. Call for help and cool the person right away.

Chemicals and HazCom

Your mine keeps a HazCom program, a list of hazardous chemicals, labels on containers, and Safety Data Sheets you can get to during your shift. New products come in every year. Read the label and the SDS before you use something you don't know.

30 CFR Part 47

Respirators

• A tight-fitting respirator needs a medical evaluation, fit test, and training first, and it only works with a seal against clean-shaven skin.
• Do a seal check every time you put it on.
• Inspect it before use, clean it, store it in a clean container, and replace filters and cartridges on schedule.

Other health hazards

• Vibration. Rough haul roads and worn seats jolt your back and neck. Report seats, suspensions, and road conditions that need work.
• Lifting. Lift with your legs and get help or a hoist for heavy and awkward loads such as screen panels, liners, and idlers.
• Fatigue. Long shifts, night work, and heat add up. Tell your supervisor if you're too tired to work safely.
• Sun. Cover up and use sunscreen. Skin cancer is common in outdoor workers.

The basics

Bleeding

Press firmly on the wound. For life-threatening limb bleeding that pressure won't control, apply a tourniquet 2 to 3 inches above the wound and note the time.

Shock

Pale, cool, clammy skin, fast breathing, confusion. Lay them down, keep them warm, nothing to eat or drink.

Burns

Cool heat burns with running water for at least 10 minutes. Brush off dry chemicals, then flush for at least 15 minutes. Wet cement and lime cause alkaline burns.

Eyes

Flush dust and chemicals. Don't remove an object stuck in the eye. Cover both eyes and get help.

Falls and crush injuries

Assume a spine injury. Keep the head and neck still and don't move them unless they're in danger.

Electrical shock

Don't touch them until the power is off. Start CPR if they aren't breathing normally.

30 CFR §56.15001 · §56.18010

CPR and AED

If someone is unresponsive and not breathing normally, call for help and send for the AED. Push hard and fast in the center of the chest, at least 2 inches deep, 100 to 120 times a minute. Use the AED as soon as it arrives and follow its prompts.

Heat illness

Heat exhaustion: heavy sweating, weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea, cramps. Move them to shade, have them sip water, and watch them. Heat stroke: confusion, slurred speech, seizures, passing out. Call for help and cool them fast.

What keeps happening

• Equipment that wasn't locked out and blocked starts up or moves during cleanup or repair.
• Operators aren't wearing seat belts when equipment goes over an edge.
• People on foot and small vehicles are in a large machine's blind area.
• Miners do tasks they weren't trained for, or take shortcuts to save time.
• Someone works alone, and no one knows they're in trouble.
• A hazard was known but not reported, or reported and not fixed.

Stop and think before the task

MSHA promotes a quick risk check called SLAM before any task, especially one that's new, unusual, or changed:

Stop

Pause before you start. Think about the task.

Look

Look over the work area for hazards, including what can move, fall, or start up.

Analyze

Ask what could go wrong and what you need to do the job safely.

Manage

Put the controls in place before you start. If you can't do the job safely, stop and get help.

Worked example: SLAM a plugged chute

Here is a finished SLAM for a task like the ones in the activity below. Use it as a model for your own.

Task: Clear a plugged chute on the plant feed conveyor.

Stop. Pause before you start. This isn't a routine job — the chute plugged mid-shift and material is backed up above the plug. Think about what's stored, what moves, and where the energy is before touching anything.

Look. Look over the area for hazards, including what can move, fall, or start up:

• Material hung up above the plug can release all at once when the plug breaks free.
• The conveyor can start up — someone else restarts it, or it auto-starts.
• From the access platform: a fall to the level below, dust in your face, spillage underfoot.
• Truck traffic passing behind the platform, and noise that means you won't hear a shout.

Analyze. Ask what could go wrong and what you need to do the job safely:

• Breaking the plug loose from below puts you in the path of falling rock.
• Reaching into the chute risks a hand caught if the belt moves.
• If you can't see the plug or can't lock the belt out, you don't have what you need to do it safely.

Manage. Put the controls in place before you start:

• Lock out and tag the conveyor, verify zero energy, and tell the operator and the loader driver the belt is down.
• Work from the side, never from below the plug and never reach into the chute — use the bar from the platform.
• Barricade the area below, spotter watching for traffic.
• If the plug won't clear with the bar or you can't get a good lockout, stop and get the supervisor — don't climb in.

Report near misses

Every fatal accident had warning signs. Near misses are those signs. Report them, even when nobody was hurt and even when you were the one who made the mistake. You're protected from retaliation for reporting.

Pressure to cut corners

Many fatal accidents start with a reasonable goal: keep the plant running, get the trucks loaded, finish before the weather turns. Shortcuts feel safe because they usually work. The time they don't is the one that kills someone. You have the right to stop and do it the safe way.