John Faini

John P. Faini completed the BSIE program at WVU in 1981. Upon graduation, John started post graduate IE studies at Virginia Tech before deciding to pursue a business degree instead. He worked in the private sector for Kaiser Aluminum, Allied Signal Bendix and Comdial in various engineering and supervisory positions. Professionally, he focused on manufacturing efficiency, cost reduction and statistical process control, while attending night school and graduating with an MBA in 1986.

In 1989, John joined the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration as an Industrial Engineer. There, he worked in quality assurance, diesel safety, internal reviews, mechanical engineering safety and laboratory testing, but he spent most of his time in management. For over 30 years, John served MSHA Technical Support in various engineering leadership roles in West Virginia, Colorado and DC area headquarters offices, including time as Center Chief, MSHA Approval and Certification Center, and Center Chief, Denver Safety and Health Technology Center.

Throughout his government service, John implemented laboratory infrastructure improvements and established new MSHA product approval, product audit and approval turn-around time milestones. He published articles, including: “Reliability Assurance Standards for Certification of Self-Contained Self Rescuers and Filter Self-Rescuers” in the “Journal of the International Society for Respiratory Protection” 1994; and “Approval and Certification Regulations for Diesel Equipment and the Impact on Miners’ Health” in the “Australian Journal of Mining” 2004. John presented, “The Current Status and Future Direction of Self-Rescuers” at the 1992 International Mine Expo in Las Vegas. John has been profiled in the American Longwall Magazine (2007), Coal USA Magazine (2008), and represented the United States in the Trinational Government Experts Workshop on the Effective Promotion of Mine Safety and Health in North America, Guadalajara Mexico.

John accepted the Comdial Chairman’s Cost Reduction Award, Secretary of Labor’s Exceptional Achievement Awards and the Secretary of Labor’s Distinguished Career Service Award. He served on the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh Coal Mining Institute of America and the WVU IMSE visiting committee. Personally, John served as a little league baseball coach and as a lector and percussionist for his church. He and his wife (Shaney) have been married for over 40 years and have four children, each with families of their own. In 2022, they welcomed their 9th grandchild. Although John has held many positions over his 40+ year career, by far, his most cherished titles are both “Dad” and “Pap.”