Section 5. Family first liaison.
(a) Designation.--The department shall designate a person to serve as mine families first liaison for each mine emergency, whose duties shall include, at a minimum:
(1) Provide miners' families with briefings on the
progress of mine emergency response operations in a timely
and effective manner.
(2) Receive and act on comments, concerns and needs of
the miners' families during and immediately after the
response to the mine emergency.
(3) Coordinate with the appropriate social service,
disaster aid and other public and not-for-profit agencies and
organizations to provide assistance needed by mine families.
(4) Assure information about the mine emergency response
is communicated to miners' families before information is
released to the public or media.
(5) Ensure the wishes of the miners' families are
honored with respect to the granting of interviews and access
by the news media.
(b) Training program.--The department shall develop a training program for mine families first liaisons to provide a basic level of competency in handling emergency situations, in effective communications techniques and in understanding the psychological factors experienced by miners' families during mine emergency situations.