The Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) awarded $250,000 to four organizations to develop and conduct training programs that support the recognition and prevention of safety and health hazards in underground mines.
The recipients of the fiscal year 2018 grants include the United Mine Workers of America Career Centers Inc., which received $50,000 to develop a video and companion training documents to better prepare responsible persons for Mine Emergency Response Development exercises; Penn State University, which received $50,000 to plan, design, develop and evaluate a three-module training program that will enhance safety regarding inspecting, working around and performing maintenance on conveyor belts; West Virginia University Research Corp., which received $52,146.50 to provide emergency prevention and preparedness training to coal miners and coal mine operators in the areas of self-contained self-rescuer expectations and mine rescue; and Rend Lake College, which received $97,853.50 to train and prepare coal miners for mine emergencies in anticipation of predicted growth in the region.
A provision in the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006 established the Brookwood-Sago grant program to promote mine safety while honoring the 25 miners who died in 2001 in Brookwood, Alabama, at the Jim Walter Resources No. 5 mine, and in 20016 at the Buckhannon, West Virginia-based Sago Mine.
