Training Centre targets small contractors: retired industry professionals address training gap.

• Author: Campbell, Heather
• Position: MINING - Company overview

A trio of Sudbury mining veterans, Dennis Shannon, Mike Mooney and Otto Rost, have teamed up to establish the National Mine Safety Training Centre (NMSTC).

There are a lot of contractors working in the mines today who are not necessarily trained for a mine environment, said Shannon, NMSTC's president.

Proper training ensures their safety and limits the liability of their employers.

Shannon is a retired educator who taught ground control at both Cambrian College and the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT). He and NORCAT past-president Darryl Lake founded the Ontario Centre for Ground Control Training and helped to create the first Ontario operating mine dedicated to training and product development.

Mooney, the chief financial officer, started two successful businesses--Ground Control, which he sold, and Shotcrete Plus, which continues as a father and son operation.

Rost, the vice-president, is a design engineer who ran his own instrumentation and communication business. He has designed software for mine equipment monitoring that captures location, service, maintenance and availability.

Shannon said they are targeting small contractors who have training needs but few resources.

"There are literally hundreds of small contractors with a small number of employees. Most have limited resources, but all the liability and concerns of a big company As experienced educators, we decided to put specific training packages together that ensure employee safety on the job," said Shannon.

The initial courses they are offering cover supervisor training, ground control, blasting, mining methods and shotcrete training. Each course comes with an outline, testing, certification upon successful course completion, and electronic records of the individual worker's training.

The supervisor training is quite extensive because of the responsibility and liability often associated with the position. NMSTC has developed two supervisor training courses, both 40 hours in duration and modelled on the Ontario Common Core programs for first line supervisors.

Based on Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) standards, the courses were developed with complete testing and mine regulation documentation. They include material on: following a safety program, preparing for emergencies, following health and hygiene procedures, effective communication, managing work area activities, managing employees, reading and following mine layouts and plans...