Cover Letter to Respondent Mines

Page 2 - [RESPONDENT NAME]

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service

Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention (CDC)

National Institute for Occupational

Safety and Health

Pittsburgh Research Laboratory

P.O. Box 18070

Pittsburgh, PA 15236-0070

[DATE]

[RESPONDENT NAME]

[TITLE]

[COMPANY ADDRESS]

[CITY, STATE, ZIP]

Dear [RESPONDENT NAME]:

I am writing to ask for your support and participation in the National Survey of the Mining Population. The Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (PRL) of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is conducting the survey to collect information about the nation’s mines and their employees. This survey will provide important data for improving the safety and health of miners, which, in turn, may lead to a safer, healthier and more productive workforce.

Your mining operation was randomly selected to represent mines in the [SPECIFIC COMMODITY] industry. Participation in the survey from mining operations like yours is the only way that we can obtain up-to-date and reliable information on mines and the mining population.

Publications on the survey results will be made available to the mining industry and to occupational safety and health professionals to assist with ongoing efforts to improve the safety and health of miners. The data you provide will be treated in a confidential manner and any personally identifiable information will be stored in a safe and secure location. NIOSH plans to publish all statistical data and results in aggregate form only. NIOSH will not release information that allows the identification of individual mines or employees unless compelled by law. As a thank you for your participation, NIOSH, PRL, will see that you receive a copy of the official publication derived from this survey for the [SPECIFIC COMMODITY] industry.

Your response to this survey is voluntary. However, the validity of the survey results depends on achieving a high response rate. We urge you, therefore, to respond as completely and accurately as possible to the questions in the enclosed survey booklet, using information from your company records.

You have the option of completing either the survey questionnaire booklet or an Internet web-based survey questionnaire. The contents of both versions of the survey are the same. Instructions to access the web-based questionnaire (www.miningsurvey.org) are attached to this letter. In a week to ten days, our survey contractor, Westat, will contact you to see if you or the person to whom you have assigned this important task need any additional information.

If you have any questions or comments about this survey, please contact the Project Director, Linda J. McWilliams, by telephone (412-386-6116) or e-mail (LMcWilliams@cdc.gov). If you need clarification on how to complete the survey,

please contact Westat at (1­888­814­4707).

Thank you very much for your help with this important survey.

Sincerely yours,

R. Güner Gürtunca, Ph.D.

Director

Pittsburgh Research Laboratory

Enclosures