Death, Money and Facts for American Surface Mines

Good News
In 2008, the number of fatalities at U.S. surface mines dropped to a record low of 28. Great!

Bad News
28 American surface miners needlessly lost their lives. Not so great.

More Bad News
For that same year, MSHA slammed surface mines with a record $194 million in penalties. That’s 2.6 times the amount for the previous year.

Death
Last year (2008) was an all time low for surface mine deaths in the U.S. totaling only 28 lives. This statistic shows us that with the proper safety training we can reduce the number of deaths and injuries. At the same time, this also points out the loss of 28 surface miners which could have potentially been avoided with proper training.

Money
As surface mine operators subject to MSHA Part 46 regulations, you should be aware of the heavy fines for safety and health violations. In 2008 MSHA assessed 198,700 penalties for violations, compared to the 130,100 violations in the previous year. The dollar amount for all these penalties in 2008 was $194 million, compared to just $74.5 million in 2007. Penalties of this magnitude indicate that MSHA is being proactive in assessing mine safety and health and that remaining out of compliance poses huge financial risks for those willing to gamble.

Facts
According to MSHA, the root cause of the 28 U.S. surface mine deaths was attributed to:

• Inadequate training
• No risk assessment conducted
• Inadequate policies, procedures, and controls
• Not using personal protective equipment
• Lack of pre-operation checks
• Not maintaining equipment
• Failure to conduct examinations

Action
Record low deaths of surface miners and record high penalties for violations of safety and health go hand in hand. We see that MSHA has raised awareness in order to save lives by increasing enforcement and handing out $194 million in penalties.

At Convergence Training, we feel very strongly that we can help improve surface mine safety while keeping mine operators compliant with MSHA Part 46 training requirements. Everybody wins when miners get to go home to their families and mine operators lower their costs.

Free Training-Course Offer

Good News! Convergence Training is offering our users a unique opportunity to receive a copy of one of our Environmental, Health and Safety courses ABSOLUTELY FREE!

Over the past year we have been working hard to develop a brand new training delivery tool – Convergence Training Viewer (CTV). With Convergence Training Viewer you can download some of the most contemporary and highly-effective training content available. Our easy-to-use setup wizard will guide you through the installation process within minutes. Once CTV is installed you can download selected titles from our integrated catalog and train as many users as you want using your personal computer.

For more information on this offer, click on the following link: Convergence Free Course Offer

The CTV Advantage

Why spend hundreds of dollars on DVDs or VHS tapes when the Convergence Training Viewer will allow you to manage, track, and update training for a fraction of the cost? CTV can work in student (self-paced) mode and will automatically track results. CTV can also work in presenter mode (for classroom presentations) for use in groups and meetings. When course updates are released, you can use our simple update feature to download the new content and be ready to train in minutes. CTV will help you get rid of the paper-nightmare and simplify your record keeping. Try it for free today and discover the most powerful new solution for the training industry on the market! Download Now!

Convergence Training Releases Revolutionary Platform for Computer-Based Training Distribution and Viewing

Convergence Training, a division of Capstone Technology, announces the introduction of Convergence Training Viewer, a free, downloadable training access portal specifically designed to view interactive training media. Convergence Training Viewer provides virtually anyone, anywhere, at anytime access to a catalog of computer-based health and safety training modules developed in compliance with federal MSHA and OSHA standards for industrial, governmental, and higher education purposes.

Convergence Training Viewer represents a fundamental shift in the way that workplace education and training can be administered. Customers can go from download to training in a matter of minutes. Anyone can download the free application from the Convergence Training website and access the catalog, purchase modules, download content, train employees, and print certificates of completion all
within a single software application.

Convergence Training Viewer was developed to meet the needs of an evolving computer-based training market. While training managers have come to expect more dynamic and interactive training material, much of the industry has failed to keep up technologically.

For example, online training may satisfy some customers but bandwidth constrictions continue to plague users with low quality video and limited visual content resulting in a diminished training experience. And although some server-based learning management systems (LMSs) can sidestep bandwidth issues, their infrastructure and support costs can place them far out of reach for smaller to medium-sized organizations.

Convergence Training Viewer solves this core problem of limited access to quality, affordable training by giving users an easy-to-use platform to download purchased training modules and play them locally, eliminating bandwidth concerns. Users benefit from the stable delivery of effective, engaging content for a superior training experience at extremely reasonable prices.

“We’ve been looking forward to introducing a platform like this for quite some time.” says Randy Kohltfarber, Director of Product Development. “Our focus has always been on delivering the best, most effective training experience in the industry.

Convergence Training Viewer eliminates the technical limitations we’ve dealt with for years. Now we can make our training material available to anyone almost instantly without the slightest loss in quality. It’s really a best-case scenario for us and our customers.” This platform sets the stage for collaborating with other computer-based education and training producers to distribute SCORM-compliant material.

On the heels of Convergence Training Viewer, a networkable version will be available soon as an advanced learning management service provided by Convergence Training. Customers will be able to administer computer-based training to multiple workstations at different locations without the bandwidth limitations of conventional online training and without the capital expense of a server-based
system.