MSHA awards $1M in Brookwood-Sago mine safety grants

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today awarded $1 million through its Brookwood-Sago grants program to seven organizations that provide education and training within the mining industry. The funding will be used to develop and implement training and related materials for mine emergency preparedness, as well as for the prevention of accidents in all underground mines.

"Training is the key for proper, safe and effective emergency response," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. "The programs funded by these federal grants will enable miners working underground to be better prepared in the event of a mine emergency."

• The United Mine Workers of America Career Centers Inc., based in Washington, Pennsylvania, is receiving $183,575 for the development of a regional mine rescue team competition and other training opportunities, which include mine rescue skills training.
• The Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado, is receiving $183,552 in funding to provide quality training to mine rescue teams. The training will focus on the development of advanced mine rescue skills using multiple training modalities. This includes preshift and on-shift mine examiner training in support of small mine rescue teams in Colorado.
• The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, whose main office is in Denver, is receiving $165,364 in grant funding to provide training programs and materials for mine emergency prevention and mine emergency preparedness of underground miners.
• The University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, is receiving $136,906 in grant funding for improving miner preparedness and in-emergency resiliency using multiplayer emergency response simulations.
• The Center for Strategic Management Public Leadership Institute Inc. in Severna Park, Maryland, is receiving $128,439 in grant funding for training in coal mine emergency preparedness and prevention in the following subject areas: self-assessments, continuous monitoring and measuring the effectiveness of risk, and readiness and preparedness models.
• The Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania, is receiving $109,917 to develop an education and training toolbox for coal mine rescue instructors and mine rescue team members.
• Rend Lake College in Ina, Illinois, is receiving $92, 247 to create a mine emergency prevention and preparedness project. This includes providing mine rescue team members training experience through mine rescue skills competition.

Training grants are awarded for a 12-month performance period, and applicants must be states or nonprofit entities. The grants program was established by the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006. It was named in remembrance of 13 men who died in two explosions at the Jim Walter Resources Inc.'s No. 5 Mine in Brookwood, Alabama, in 2001 and 12 men who died in an explosion at Wolf Run Mining Co.'s Sago Mine in Tallmansville, West Virginia, in 2006.