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.

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.

Product Showcase

  • Safety Shower Test Cart

    The Safety Shower Test Cart speeds up and simplifies emergency shower tests, ensures you stay in compliance with OSHA regulations, and significantly reduces testing costs. With 7 unique features, the cart makes testing easy, effective, and efficient. You can test water clarity, flow, temperature, and spread—all at the same time! Most safety shower testing kits create a mess, take too much time to use, and don't fully help you stay in compliance with OSHA & ANSI standards. Transform the way you test emergency showers with Green Gobbler Safety. Read More

  • SwabTek® Cannabis Test Kit

    The SwabTek® Cannabis Test Kit is a single-use spot test designed for use in screening for cannabis compounds in any sample type or on any surface. The test is capable of identifying the presumed presence of cannabinoids in very small quantities, with a level of detection as little as 6 μg in mass. Learn more about the SwabTek® Cannabis Test Kit and the rest of SwabTek surface drug testing solutions through the webinar titled "Everything You Want To Know About Surface Testing" Read More

  • Full Line of Defense Against Combustible Dust Nilfisk

    Nilfisk provides a comprehensive range of industrial vacuums meticulously crafted to adhere to NFPA 652 housekeeping standards, essential for gathering combustible dust in Class I, Group D, and Class II, Groups E, F & G environments or non-classified settings. Our pneumatic vacuums are meticulously engineered to fulfill safety criteria for deployment in hazardous surroundings. Leveraging advanced filtration technology, Nilfisk ensures the secure capture of combustible materials scattered throughout your facility, ranging from fuels, solvents, and metal dust to flour, sugar, and pharmaceutical powders. Read More

Featured

Artificial Intelligence

Webinars