Mine Recruitment and Participation Script

Attachment H

Mine Recruitment and Participation Script

Form Approved

OMB No. 0920-xxxx

Exp. Date xx/xx/20xx

I am a researcher for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Office of Mine Safety and Health Research (OMSHR). We are a non-regulatory agency within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Our mission is to eliminate mining fatalities, injuries, and illnesses through research and prevention. Recently, the use of Health and Safety Management Systems (HSMS) has become a priority for mining companies and industry representatives. In support of industry interest, NIOSH is conducting a series of interventions to identify how mining companies manage their specific company’s health and safety practices and how these practices, as communicated between workers, influence the safety/health perceptions and behaviors within workgroups. We are interested in including your mine site in this study. Inclusion would involve participation from mine site leaders, such as yourself, and a sample of your workers who are willing and interested.

Because HSMS practices can be quite broad, we are utilizing the new CPDM technology as a tool to help provide specific practices that influence behaviors in which workers can discuss, as a group, and aim to improve upon over time to lower exposure to respirable dust. As you know, respiratory diseases, such as Black Lung Disease, occur among a large percentage of mineworkers who undergo prolonged exposure to respirable coal mine dust. Because the CPDM may inform workers and managers in identifying tasks of higher dust exposure, workers can try to mitigate these problems, and quickly see if the behavior change made a difference in their exposures. The only purpose of the CPDM is to provide dust-related knowledge that workers can use to discuss various exposures during work tasks. Individual dust samples will be not be documented.

We are trying to recruit mine sites who will let us utilize a small sample of workers that are willing to participate in three meetings with their workgroup/shift group throughout the period of six weeks. As a member of mine site management, if the mine site chooses to participate, you would help us recruit and provide several of your workers (number can be at your discretion) the option to participate. Participation from the workers will last no more than a span of six weeks and include:

• A pre-assessment survey with each individual that will take no more than 15 minutes followed by a focus group meeting with the participating work group. This meeting will take no more than 1 hour, including any completion of worksheets.

• A second focus group meeting with the participating work group to discuss dust-related practices and behaviors among coworkers. This includes completing checklists and documenting behavior changes. This will take no more than one hour.

• A post-assessment survey that will take no more than 15 minutes followed by a final focus group meeting with the participating work group to discuss the impact of dust reduction practices on exposure levels. This meeting will take no more than one hour, including any completion of worksheets.

The data your employees provide will be kept secure. No information that they give us will be linked to you or your company.

Public reporting burden of this collection of information is estimated to average 5 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing the collection of information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to CDC/ATSDR Information Collection Review Office, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS D-74, Atlanta, Georgia 30333; ATTN: PRA (0920-15LB).

As a member of mine management, if you choose to participate, you would participate in two short interviews (or focus groups if other members of management would like to participate) to share your knowledge or responsibility regarding how you manage safety and health practices within your employee workgroups. Participation from you or other members of management would include:

• A pre-assessment interview or focus group that will last no more than one hour.

• A post-assessment interview or focus group that will take no more than one hour.

• A follow-up phone call/e-mail (6-12 months after the study) that includes completing an implementation checklist so we can gauge the impact of the intervention. This will take no more than 15 minutes to complete.

Your organization will be assigned a participant number and a pseudonym so that you and your company name are not written or recorded on any of the information that you provide.

All individuals participating will remain private. Cooperation by all participants is voluntary and they may refuse to provide responses to any or all of the questions. There are no individual benefits to participation and individuals who participate will not receive compensation or reimbursement for their time. However, you sharing examples of how you and the organization manages health and safety, both pertaining to dust control and other risk-based problems, offers real world experience useful to industry representatives developing generalized guidelines for a management systems approach. In addition, long term, this study may reduce the number of mineworkers who are diagnosed with Black Lung Disease by offering insights into ways the mining environment and personal behaviors can be modified to reduce sources of dust exposure.

Please let me know if you would be willing to let us collect this information at your mine. Thank you for your time, consideration, and any assistance you can offer. Please feel free to contact me at 412.386.4627 or [email protected].

Sincerely,

Emily J. Haas, PhD