At a hearing in Washington last week, NMA's vice-president for safety and health Bruce Watzman said while industry “wholeheartedly agrees that promptly notifying MSHA of mining accidents is essential for assisting mine operators in dealing with emergencies", it was not necessary to activate mine rescue personnel and local emergency resources for “non-emergency events".

He said experience suggests that not every event justifies an "emergency" condition requiring notification within a prescribed 15-minute timeframe. Currently, West Virginia is re-examining its present requirement and may possibly refine the circumstances under which notification must be made within 15 minutes to help ensure rescue teams are deployed efficiently.

Watzman proposed streamlining MSHA's current notification system through better use of a 1-800 number to hasten response time during accidents and make better use of available rescue teams and resources.

NMA also recommended certain modifications to the proposed training rule.

Watzman said although additional training should be required of all those entering mines, companies should have some discretion in determining how and how often training should be conducted.

For example, in cases where the variety of safety equipment warrants it, greater training efficiency can be achieved with audio-visual instruction.

Watzman also cautioned that specific requirements of the proposed rule may complicate rather than improve mine safety. For example, he said, while industry endorses "the direction, technology and procedures advocated in the standards", specific requirements regarding applications and practices may introduce unintentional hazards.

One instance would be the requirement to install lifelines in travelways. NMA supported the installation of lifelines in the primary escapeway of each mine as a means of facilitating emergency evacuations, but not in areas used for rail cars, which are typically used in travelways for exiting mines under emergency conditions, Watzman said.