The U.S. Department of Labor has announced the availability of up to $250,000 in Brookwood-Sago grant funding aimed at supporting education and training initiatives for the nation’s mining community. The goal is to help miners identify, avoid, and prevent unsafe and unhealthy working conditions.
The Brookwood-Sago grant program was established under the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006. It commemorates 25 miners who lost their lives in two separate incidents: the Jim Walter Resources #5 Mine disaster in Brookwood, Alabama, in 2001, and the Sago Mine disaster in Buckhannon, West Virginia, in 2006.
The department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will administer these grants. The funding will support educational programs addressing workplace safety and health hazards associated with mining critical and other minerals. Areas targeted include powered haulage and mobile equipment safety, mine emergency preparedness and rescue operations, electrical hazards, inadequate training for new or inexperienced miners as well as managers or supervisors involved in mining tasks, structural concerns such as pillars in underground mines, insufficient personal protective equipment to prevent falls or injuries, and exposure to respirable dust, crystalline silica, and other environmental risks.
Organizations interested in applying can find more information or submit a grant application through MSHA's official channels. Applications must be submitted by September 19, 2025. According to the Department of Labor's announcement: "MSHA will award grants on or before Sept. 30, 2025."
