Seven organizations were awarded grants through the Brookwood-Sago mine safety program, which the Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) administers.
According to MSHA, the grant program allows recipients to create accessible, comprehensive training materials in multiple languages, promote and conduct mine safety training or educational programs, and evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts. The overall goal of the program is to support education and training initiatives that help to identify and prevent unsafe working conditions in and around the nation’s mines.
This year’s grant recipients are the University of Arizona ($134,999), Desert Research Institute ($128,233), Penn State University ($149,465), UMWA Career Centers ($74,810), Wayne State University ($201,276), West Virginia University ($173,543) and West Virginia University Research Corp. ($151,392).
“As the Biden-Harris administration moves full steam ahead to ensure the implementation of MSHA’s new respirable silica dust standard, the grants awarded today are a valuable tool to make training and resources available to better protect miners from the debilitating and deadly effects of silica dust exposure,” says Chris Williamson, assistant secretary at MSHA. “All miners deserve a safe and healthy work environment and the ability to retire with their dignity and enjoy the fruits of their labor.”
In awarding the grants, MSHA gave special emphasis to education and training programs that reach miners at smaller mines and underserved populations in the industry. Training and education supported by the grants align with the program’s mission, as well as MSHA priorities such mine rescue, better protecting miners from exposure to silica dust, and powered haulage safety.
The Brookwood-Sago grant program was established under the Mine Improvement & New Emergency Response Act of 2006 to honor the 25 miners who died in mine disasters at the Jim Walter Resources #5 mine in Brookwood, Alabama, and at the Sago Mine in Buckhannon, West Virginia.
“In remembrance of the 25 miners who lost their lives, the Brookwood-Sago grants have historically included awards for mine emergency preparedness and rescue, and this year we are proud to continue that important tradition by supporting those critical programs,” Williamson says. “This year’s grant recipients share our commitment to mine rescue and ensuring miners return home safe and healthy to their families and communities at the end of their shift.”
