Monday, August 25, 1997

National Mine Safety and Health Conference to Convene in Salt Lake City

Hosted by the University of Utah and Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI), the Institute is designed to reach miners, mine operators, managers, superintendents, and safety directors and engineers who are responsible for health and safety in their respective organizations.

Presentations by experts from industry, labor, universities and state and federal government agencies will focus on the most pressing issues facing metal/non-metal mining, the stone industry and coal mining. Topics will include the cause and prevention of haulage accidents, tracking the levels of diesel exhaust in underground mines, emergency preparedness in the wake of mine accidents, health issues such as silica dust and noise, and changing attitudes in safety and health.

This year marks the first time in the Institute's 27-year history that the conference is being held in the western United States. In years past, VPI has hosted the meeting at its Blacksburg, Virginia campus. The shift in location makes the Institute's training sessions more accessible to a greater number of mining professionals from the western states such as Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Wyoming, where the mining industry is a vital link in the economy.

Other sponsors of the conference include MSHA, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the National Mining Association, the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America, the National Stone Association and the Bituminous Coal Operators' Association.