Appendix D Cover letter

Page 2 - [RESPONDENT NAME]

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service

Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention (CDC)

National Institute for Occupational

Safety and Health

Pittsburgh Research Laboratory

P.O. Box 18070

Pittsburgh, PA 15236-0070

John Doe 3/15/08

Safety Supervisor, Mine 5

Mega Energy

P.O. Box 41

Forty-One, PA 00330

Dear Mr. Doe,

This letter requests your participation in the Survey of Coal Mine Safety Interventions, sponsored by the Mining Program of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). NIOSH has contracted with ATL International, Inc. (ATL) and ICF International (ICF) to conduct this survey, whose purpose is to assess whether NIOSH’s safety interventions meet the needs of the coal mining industry. NIOSH will use the findings to enhance the awareness, use and effectiveness of its safety innovations.

Your mine is one of 300 underground coal mines that have been selected to participate. The survey is completely voluntary, and will only take about 30 minutes to complete. The information collected from each mine will be kept anonymous. NIOSH will not release information that allows the identification of individual mines unless compelled by law.

You may complete the survey in one of two ways; whichever is most convenient:

• Online, using your mine’s unique ID and password, OR

• Complete the enclosed questionnaire and return it using the self-addressed, stamped envelope.

The Web version of the survey is hosted on a secure site maintained by ICF International. Survey data entered through the site are accessible only by members of the survey research team and by NIOSH. To complete the survey online, go to your browser and enter the following Web address:

[INSERT URL—available when the final survey approved]

Enter your ID and password when prompted. Your mine’s unique ID and password are:

[ID: XXXX] [Password: XXXXX]

Please use only one method to complete the survey. Your participation is strongly encouraged and greatly appreciated by NIOSH. If you have any further questions about the purpose of the survey, or how the data will be used, please contact the Project Director, Linda J. McWilliams, by telephone (412-386-6116) or e-mail ([email protected]). For all other questions, you may contact ICF’s Survey Research Center, toll-free during normal business hours (9:00am – 5:00pm EST) at 1-888-556-6355. I thank you in advance for your assistance with this important project regarding mine safety.

Sincerely yours,

R. Güner Gürtunca, Ph.D.

Director

Pittsburgh Research Laboratory