The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has awarded $10,537,000 in grant funding to reduce mining accidents, injuries, and illnesses by supporting safety and health courses, and other programs. The awards were made to 47 states, the Navajo Nation, Guam, and Native Village of Barrow.
Grantees will use the funds to provide miners with federally mandated training. The grants cover training and retraining of miners working at surface and underground coal and metal and nonmetal mines, including miners engaged in shell dredging or employed at surface stone, sand, and gravel mining operations.
Grants were awarded based on applications from states, and they are administered by state mine inspectors’ offices, state departments of labor, and state-supported colleges and universities. Each recipient tailors the program to the needs of its mines and miners – including mining conditions and hazards miners may encounter – and provides technical assistance.
