July 15, 2024 - The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced up to $1 million in funding for the Brookwood-Sago grants aimed at promoting mine safety and health education. The program, named in memory of 25 miners lost in tragic disasters in Alabama and West Virginia, seeks to provide training to help miners identify and prevent unsafe and unhealthy working conditions.

According to a recent release, the Brookwood-Sago grants—established by the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006—commemorate the miners who perished in the Jim Walter Resources #5 mine disaster in Brookwood, Alabama, in 2001 and the Sago mine disaster in Buckhannon, West Virginia in 2006. 

Administered by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), these grants will fund education and training programs that address a variety of workplace hazards faced by miners.

Key areas of focus for these training programs include exposure to respirable dust and crystalline silica, safe use of powered haulage and mobile equipment, mine emergency and rescue preparedness, and electrical safety. The grants also aim to address insufficient training for new and inexperienced miners, lack of training for managers and supervisors, pillar safety for underground mines, and the absence of PPE to prevent falls from heights.

Interested parties can submit their applications for the Brookwood-Sago grants on Grants.gov until September 9, 2024. MSHA will announce the grant recipients by September 30, 2024.