In the coal sector, the United Mine Workers of America Career Centers received $183,575; it will use the funding to develop a regional mine rescue team competition along with other training opportunities, including mine rescue skills training.
The Center for Strategic Management Public Leadership Institute in Maryland, which has been bestowed $128,439 in grant funding, will utilize the money for mine emergency preparedness training. It will also highlight prevention, self-assessments, continuous monitoring, and measuring the effectiveness of risk, and readiness and preparedness models.
The Pennsylvania State University will use its $109,917 to develop an education and training toolbox for coal mine rescue instructors and mine rescue team members, and Rend Lake College in Illinois, which is receiving $92,247, will create a mine emergency prevention and preparedness project. This includes providing mine rescue team members training experience through mine rescue skills competition.
On the hard rock side of the mining community, the Colorado School of Mines (CSOM) will use its newly acquired $183,552 to provide quality training to mine rescue teams. CSOM said that its training will focus on the development of advanced mine rescue skills using multiple training modalities, including pre-shift and on-shift mine examiner training in support of the state’s small mine rescue teams.
Down the road in Denver, fellow awardee the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety will be receiving $165,364 in grant funding to provide training programs and materials for mine emergency prevention and mine emergency preparedness of underground miners.
Finally, the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, which will be receiving $136,906 in grant funding, will improve miner preparedness and in-emergency resiliency using multiplayer emergency response simulations.
“Training is the key for proper, safe and effective emergency response,” said Joseph 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.”
Brookwood-Sago 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.
