Arlington, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration announced the award of $400,000 to five organizations to develop and conduct training programs that support the recognition and prevention of safety and health hazards in underground mines.
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 Brookwood, Alabama, in 2001, at the Jim Walter Resources #5 mine, and in Buchannon, West Virginia, in 2006, at the Sago mine.
The recipients of the Fiscal Year 2019 grants are:
Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas, received $50,000 to develop a powered haulage training module, including virtual reality simulation that will focus on powered haulage-blind spot safety, and workplace exams;
Penn State University in University Park, Pennsylvania, received $158,181 to plan, design, and develop a 3-module, web-based mobile equipment safety education and training program on the potential hazards associated with mobile equipment visibility; designing and maintaining berms; and performing proper, thorough pre-shift examinations per the equipment manufacturer’s specifications;
The United Mine Workers of America Career Centers, Inc. in Prosperity, Pennsylvania, received $50,000 to develop a video and companion training documents emphasizing mine rescue team exploration and recovery procedures;
University of Arizona Board of Regents in Tucson, Arizona, received $85,974 to develop modular training programs for workplace examinations, conveyor and mobile equipment interactions, and mine emergency preparedness with a focus on small- and medium-sized metal and nonmetal mines. The training program will include an evidence-based train-the-trainer and evaluations program; and
West Virginia University Research Corporation in Morgantown, West Virginia, received $55,845 to provide emergency prevention and preparedness training to coal miners and operators in the areas of self-contained self-rescuer expectations and mine rescue.