DOL and MSHA Award $1M in Mine Safety Grants

DOL and MSHA Award $1M in Mine Safety Grants

The initiative focuses on smaller mines and underserved populations.

  • By Robert Yaniz Jr.
  • Oct 02, 2023

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has awarded $1 million in new grants to nine organizations across seven states, aiming to enhance mine safety and health awareness.

According to a release dated Sept. 27, these grants—managed by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)—fall under the Brookwood-Sago Mine Safety grant program. This program honors the memory of the 25 miners who lost their lives in 2001 at the Jim Walter Resources #5 mine in Brookwood, Alabama, and in 2006 at the Sago Mine in Buckhannon, West Virginia.

With this program, MSHA focused especially on education and training affecting workers at smaller mines and the industry’s underserved populations. This funding will be used to develop training materials and conduct educational programs to mitigate hazardous conditions in mines as well as measure the progress of this program’s goals. The agency’s priorities include miner protection, reduction of silica dust exposure and the enhancement of mine rescues.

“In examining the mining industry’s troubling trend of fatalities this year, MSHA has found that training deficiencies continue to be a root cause of fatal accidents,” MSHA Assistant Secretary Chris Williamson said in a statement. “The grants awarded today further key priorities of the agency and the Biden-Harris Administration, including preventing fatalities and serious accidents from safety issues, while also addressing miner health, such as preventing exposure to toxic materials like silica dust.”

A full list of the 2023 Brookwood-Sago grant recipients is available on the DOL website.

About the Author

Robert Yaniz Jr. is the Content Editor of Occupational Health & Safety.

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