About Maintenance Safety in the Mining Industry
The National Mine Health and Safety Academy in Beckley, West Virginia, trains mine safety and health inspectors and technical support personnel of the Mine Safety and Health Administration in the United States. Coal mining in West Virginia and elsewhere, surface and subsurface; use equipment that requires constant maintenance safety and simulation drills to ensure a safe mining environment. The Academy emphasizes education of personnel as a maintenance safety necessity in the mining industry.
Types of Safety Maintenance and Mine Safety Simulation
Safety instructions are conducted in nine established laboratories at the Academy, and professionals from all over the United States and foreign countries as well obtain maintenance safety training at this facility.
- Roof control
- Ground control
- Mine emergency and mine rescue
- Ventilation
- Electrical
- Machinery
- Industrial hygiene
- Computer
- Underground mine simulation
Maintenance Mining Safety Training
Safety is the keyword at the Academy, which provides an active maintenance and equipment building for mining equipment. The mine simulation laboratory (lab) occupies a two-level building wherein there is a staging area with rooms and pillars and a mine fan.
Simulation Laboratory
The layout of the simulation laboratory portrays a coal mine complete with tunnels that are carved to imitate a metal and nonmetal mining environment. The aim is to maintain equipment in good working order and for safety inspectors and other professionals to be in readiness mode should mine accidents occur.
Mine Rescue Safety Training
The lab provides active participation training in mine rescue, recovery, firefighting and mine emergency precision operations using real mine equipment. The Mine Emergency Operations (MEO) building and Mine Rescue Station is situated next to the Mine Simulation Laboratory and houses emergency command vehicles, rescue capsule, emergency generators, water and pumps in addition to an office trailer. The Mine Emergency Unit contains a complete array of equipment for mine rescue and recovery incidents.