Posted on October 6, 2021
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has awarded US$10 537 000 in grant funding to support safety and health training, and other programmes. MSHA awarded grants to 46 states, the Navajo Nation and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
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 non-metal mines. This includes miners engaged in shell dredging or employed at surface stone, sand, and gravel mining operations.
“These state grants help provide critical safety and health training for thousands of miners,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health, Jeannette J. Galanis. “MSHA is dedicated to keeping miners safe on the job, and this annual funding helps make sure miners across the country have access to proper safety training and resources.”
MSHA awarded grants based on applications from states, and they are administered by state mine inspectors’ offices, state departments of labour, and state-supported colleges and universities. Each recipient tailors the programme to the needs of its mines and miners – including mining conditions and hazards miners may encounter – and provides technical assistance. The state grants are formula grants authorised under Section 503 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977.
A list of grant recipients can be found here.
