Survey Q and A

Why is NIOSH conducting this survey?

Ultimately, our goal is to reduce the frequency of mining accidents, injuries and illnesses over time.This survey will enable us to identify specific mining practices and employee characteristics that are associated with higher risks of such adverse events. We will use these findings to develop training materials and guidelines that reduce such risks to yield a healthier and more productive mining workforce.

What data will be collected?

We are collecting two types of data to understand the context for mine accidents, injuries and illnesses:

• Mine-level data—questions about scheduling and shifts and use of independent contractors.

• Employee-level data—questions about demographic, occupational and experience questions for just a sample of individual mine employees.

What will we do with these data?

• Describe how the risk of accidents and injuries for mine employees varies by demographic and job characteristics.

• Estimate the number of contract employees working for mining operations and how their accident and injury rates differ from that of direct employees.

Why was this mining operation chosen?

• Your mining operation was randomly chosen from a list of all (MINE SECTOR) mines operations nationwide.

• The survey has used a sampling strategy to minimize the number of mines chosen from large mining companies and minimize the number of sampled employees per mine to keep response burden to the lowest possible level.

Who will see my responses?

• Only NIOSH researchers and employees of our survey contractor, (CONTRACTOR NAME), will see your responses.

• Both organizations are committed to protecting the data your mine provides.

• The answers from all participating mines will be published only as summarized data.

• No single company or individual employee will be identified in reporting survey results.

Is my mine required to participate?

• No. Participation is voluntary.

• You may also decline to answer any individual question for any reason.

• Your mine’s participation will ensure accurate and precise research for understanding mining accidents, injuries and illnesses.

Is it appropriate for my mine to release information about employees who work here?

• Yes. You are not asked to report the names of individual employees in the questionnaire.

• The individual employee data you provide will be anonymous.

Do I need to report data for all employees of our mining operation?

• If you have 10 or fewer employees at this mining operation, report data for all of them.

• If you have 11 or more employees at this mining operation, use our provided instructions to select a sample of 10 employees for reporting.

• If you have questions about sampling or completing the questionnaire, please contact our data collection vendor (NAME) at (XXX) XXX-XXXX.

When answering questions, should I include employees of outside companies that are working for the mine under contract?

• Include contractors when answering questions about the mine’s use of contractors.

• Do not include contract employees when sampling and reporting your mine’s employees.

 

How long will the survey take?

• It takes about 20 minutes to complete the questions about the mine and mine operations.

• The time to complete questions about individual mine employees will vary depending upon the total number of employees working at the mine but at most data will be reported for no more than 10 employees.

• Answering questions about employees may involve collecting information from payroll, personnel records and other sources.

• It will take an average of 60 minutes to complete the entire survey.

• Feel free to complete it over several sessions, whether completing it online or on paper.

For information about the

Mining Industry and Workforce Survey, contact:

Linda McWilliams

Project Director

NIOSH, OMSHR

Pittsburgh, PA

412-386-6116

[email protected]

 

For information on how to fill out the survey, contact:

Name

Survey Director

[VENDOR]

Phone Number

Email