10 MSHA Training Courses
We’ve created a list of 10 MSHA training courses to help miners and operators meet the safety rules and regulations set by the Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA). Among the topics covered here include proper handling of hazardous materials, working in confined spaces, performing first aid and CPR, and many more. Refer to our list below.
1. Hazardous Materials (Silica, Polymerics and Waste)
Workers in the mining industry are always exposed to a range of hazardous materials that pose a threat to their health. Informing your workers about the health risks of the hazardous materials they are most likely to encounter will help combat complacency and compel them to follow the safety precautions (like fire safety techniques) in handling them. SC Training (formerly EdApp)’s Hazardous Materials course can lend a hand in educating your workers about the different types of hazardous materials and the health impacts of exposure to those substances. For example, silica, a naturally occurring component of dust in a coal mine, can lead to silicosis and lung cancer. Your workers will also learn more about safe work practices for handling and managing these materials, such as wearing necessary protective equipment like gloves and goggles, and labeling of materials with respect to their content and hazards.
This course is free for anyone looking for a highly informative MSHA training course that they can deploy right off the bat. As it also comes fully editable, you can easily change its format, tweak the content, or even add mining photos, infographics, and video clips for higher learner engagement.
Cost: Free
Scope: Types of hazardous materials, polymeric and crystalline silica exposure and health impacts, safe handling and managing of hazardous materials
Created By SC Training (formerly EdApp)
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2. Confined Spaces
Mining in confined spaces is downright dangerous, and unsafe practices in this particular situation can lead to either minor or major accidents, resulting in illnesses, injuries, and, in the worst-case scenario, death. To avoid all these regrettable consequences, your miners must have a sound understanding of how to safely perform their duties in small, confined spaces underground. This SC Training (formerly EdApp) site safety training course will provide your team with a general overview of the work hazards present in confined spaces, alongside safety practices and strategies that they can adapt to stay safe at all times. It will also walk them through the retrieval procedures and harnessing guidelines when implementing rescue operations in an unlikely case of an emergency.
SC Training (formerly EdApp) supports the concept of self-paced learning, allowing learners to take this course as slowly or quickly as they like. Meaning, your mine workers can take one lesson at a time or all five lessons at once, whichever is more convenient for them.
Cost: Free
Scope: Overview of work hazards in confined spaces, safety practices and strategies to control hazards, rescue procedures, harnessing guidelines
Created by SC Training (formerly EdApp)
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3. Safety in the Workplace
You can also use SC Training (formerly EdApp)’s Safety in the Workplace course to ensure optimal safety for your mine workers, and at the same time, guarantee the operational compliance of your mining business with the MSHA’s safety rules and regulations. This course taps on the major requirements for good workplace keeping, like keeping it uncluttered and removing any waste materials, along with the health and physical risks of ignoring these practices. It also highlights the hazards of slips, trips, and falls, which are among the largest contributors to most injury cases in the mining industry. As they progress through the course, they will also learn more about the importance of following safe practices, wearing Personal Protective Equipment, and adhering to good ergonomics that your team can follow, like the proper lifting and handling of heavy rocks and minerals. These lessons will help reduce the likelihood of accidents and injuries in your mining environment and establish a safe workplace culture.
Adopting the combined microlearning and m-learning (mobile learning) approach, SC Training (formerly EdApp) has structured this course with short but highly concentrated modules that miners can easily access using their mobile phones, anytime and anywhere. It perfectly fits their hectic schedules, as they will only need a few minutes to complete it, and not days or weeks.
Cost: Free
Scope: Good workplace keeping, slips, trips, and falls, personal protective equipment, safe
Created by SC Training (formerly EdApp)
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4. MSHA First Aid and CPR Training
Learn the basics of first aid and rescue procedures specific to mine emergencies with this MSHA First Aid and CPR Training by 360training. This course aims to improve your organization’s emergency preparedness and response plans, ensuring that your mine workers are prepared to provide urgent care for a variety of injuries and emergencies at a moment's notice. Here, they will learn the right way to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), and treat burns, fractures, poisoning, and more injuries that mine workers may encounter. This course is 100% online and is accessible 24/7. Learners can also learn at their own pace, and save progress as they go.
Cost: $20.00 USD
Scope: First aid and rescue procedures specific to mine emergencies, responsiveness in different situations
Created by 360training
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5. Miners' Rights and Responsibilities
Make sure that your team knows their rights and responsibilities by providing them this highly informative training module from Compliance Training Online. Here, they will learn more about the governing regulations of the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006 (MINER Act), which was established by MSHA to provide greater protection for underground coal miners and reduce workplace injuries, accidents, and most of all, fatalities. It discusses the personal and health protection rights of mine workers under the MINER Act, as well as their responsibilities to take part in health and safety programs to improve workplace safety. This course will take at least two hours to complete, but learners can always log on and off as needed and return to a chapter where they left off.
Cost: $39.95 USD
Scope: Introduction to the MSHA Miners' Rights and Responsibilities, personal and health protection rights under the MINER Act, Emergency Preparedness and Protocol, Responsibilities of Miners and Supervisors
Created by Compliance Training Online
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6. Surface New Miner Training
If you’re looking for interactive training resources that you can use to onboard your newly hired miners, then you will surely benefit from this Surface New Miner Training course by HSI. MSHA requires young, inexperienced surface miners to complete an initial training before entering a mine site and obtain foundational knowledge about the hazards they are likely to face on site. This knowledge will help them prevent injuries and protect not only themselves but also the people around them. In this course, they will gain a sound understanding of coal mining, the rights of surface miners, electrical hazards, explosives, and ground control. They'll also learn more about first-aid procedures and self-rescue devices, as well as evacuation and fire escape plans in case of an emergency. The content of this course is delivered in video format with an approximate total time duration of 24 hours.
Cost: $499 USD
Scope: coal mining, the rights of surface miners, electrical hazards, explosives, ground control, first-aid procedures and self-rescue devices, emergency evacuation, and fire escape plans
Created by HSI
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7. MSHA Part 46 Annual Refresher Training
The MSHA refresher training course by OSHA Education Center will keep the knowledge of your existing surface miners up to date on the MSHA rules and standards, which are critical to their health and safety. This course will outline their roles and responsibilities as surface miners, the mining health and safety standards they must adhere to, the importance of hazard communication, and the proper handling and storage of mining machinery and equipment and hazardous materials. It will also refresh their memories about the response action they need to follow in case of emergencies like fire breakout and explosion.
Each module is followed by a quiz, and the entire course ends with a final exam. After successful completion, learners will receive a downloadable U.S. Department of Labor Certificate of Training (MSHA Form 5000-23).
Cost: $149 USD
Scope: Overview of surface mining, mining health and safety standards, hazard communication, mining machinery and equipment, electricity, fire and explosives
Created by OSHA Education Center
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8. Chemical Hazards at a Mine
Vector Solutions’ Chemical Hazards is a short 10-minute training course offering information on different hazardous chemicals found in mining sites. Preparing your newly-hired mine workers before they start working around chemicals, this course will teach them the health implications of accidental exposure to these harmful substances alongside the best practices they must follow in order to stay safe at all times. It also covers the main elements of the Emergency Spill Response Plan, which will be discussed with examples and instructions. Just a quick heads up that this MSHA training course comes in a pay-per-view (PPV) format, meaning, you will have to pay to get immediate access. After purchase, learners will only have 30 days to complete this course.
Cost: $19 USD
Scope: Chemical hazards in mining sites, physical and health hazards of chemicals, best practices for working with hazardous chemicals, Emergency Spill Response Plan
Created by Vector Solutions
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9. Health, Safety and Wellness in Mining
The Health, Safety and Wellness in Mining by edX is a great MSHA training course that you can deploy to your new and existing mine workers. Here, they are expected to get a deeper understanding of the health and safety risks of mining for both the workforce and communities, alongside the risk management process and control strategies to overcome them. They will also learn more about the importance of human factor considerations of mining systems, and how the technology is gradually changing the mining industry. This course is made up of videos, expert insights and discussions, and examples using real-world scenarios, which your learners can take and complete at their own pace.
Cost: Free
Scope: Mining health and safety risks and impacts, risk management processes and control strategies to manage risks, human factor considerations of mining systems, impacts of new technologies
Created by edX
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10. OSHA for Workers (US Only)
Mining companies are required not only by MSHA but also OSHA to make certain that their workers fully understand their rights and responsibilities, especially in regards to their health and safety. SC Training (formerly EdApp)’s course on OSHA for Workers can help you train and educate your miners and operators about the health and safety standards set by OSHA, and what they can do to protect themselves and the people around them from accidents and injuries. This course will also show your mining workforce the step-by-step process for filing an incident report and complaints in the event of protocol breaches, like reckless exposure to harmful chemicals, lack of fall protection, and poor implementation of safety procedures. It will also walk them through OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program, which aims to protect them from retaliation for reporting about the non-compliance of their employers or co-workers.
The content of this mini training is delivered through a series of short modules combined with gamified quizzes for higher learning engagement and increased knowledge retention.
Cost: Free
Scope: OSHA’s health and safety standards, workers’ rights and responsibilities, filing a complaint, whistleblower protection
Created by SC Training (formerly EdApp)
Explore the courseCombat health and safety mining hazards with MSHA training
From the inhalation of respirable coal-mine dust to explosion and mine collapse, miners face a range of hazards on a day-to-day basis, which puts them at higher risk of developing disabling injuries and illnesses, and even worse, death. With this in mind, the US Department of Labor established the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to enforce safety and health rules and regulations for the mining sector, limiting the number of accidental injuries, illnesses, and deaths due to the nature of this job. MSHA mandates the mining companies to secure the safest working conditions for their miners and provide them with health and safety training that will keep their skills and knowledge up to date to the industry's health and safety standards, policies, and procedures. In this article, we’ve selected 10 MSHA training courses and learning materials that miners and operators can use to carry out their job as safely as possible and ensure that their mining process adheres to the rules and regulations set by the MSHA.