Mine Health and Safety Grants | 326631

Opportunity Information: Apply for 326631

The Mine Health and Safety Grants opportunity is a discretionary grant program run by the U.S. Department of Labor through the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Its purpose is to support the broader Department of Labor goal of promoting safe jobs and fair workplaces by helping prevent fatalities, injuries, and occupational disease in the mining industry. In practical terms, MSHA uses these grants to strengthen collaboration between federal and non-federal partners and to improve the real-world safety and health conditions faced by miners across the country.

A central focus of the program is building the capacity of state, tribal, and territorial governments to develop and enforce mining laws and regulations, improve workers compensation and mining-related occupational disease laws and programs, and coordinate effectively with federal safety efforts. The grants are intended to help governments and partner organizations take concrete steps that reduce mining hazards, close enforcement gaps, and modernize systems that protect workers before and after an injury or illness occurs.

Training and education are highlighted as especially important, with MSHA emphasizing that state training programs are often the primary source of mine safety and health instruction for people who currently work in mines or plan to. MSHA encourages applicants to prioritize training for small mining operations, which often have fewer internal resources for safety management. The agency also signals interest in programs that teach miners about their statutory rights, including the right to a safe workplace and the right to refuse unsafe work. These elements position the grants as not only technical safety programs, but also as tools to strengthen worker awareness and confidence in using legal protections.

MSHA identifies specific training topics it wants grantees to emphasize. These include occupational health hazards such as exposure to respirable dust and diesel exhaust, both of which are linked to serious long-term health outcomes. The agency also encourages training on powered haulage safety (a major source of severe and fatal incidents), conducting workplace examinations, mine emergency preparedness, proper donning and transfer of self-contained self-rescuers (SCSRs), mine rescue, contractor training, and electrical safety. Another clear priority is aligning training content with the leading causes of fatal mining accidents, using MSHA fatality reports as a reference point for targeting the hazards that most often lead to deaths.

Eligibility for this opportunity is broad and includes state governments, local governments (county and city/township), federally recognized tribal governments and certain tribal organizations, U.S. territories and affiliated jurisdictions, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education institutions). The listing reflects an expectation that a range of public entities and qualified partners may be involved in delivering training, improving enforcement support systems, or coordinating statewide or regional mine safety initiatives.

Key program details from the source listing include the opportunity title (Mine Health and Safety Grants), the funding opportunity number (326631), and the assistance listing/CFDA number (17.600). The activity category is education, and the instrument type is a grant. The opportunity record shows an expected 56 awards, with an award ceiling listed as 0 (which typically indicates the ceiling is not specified in the summary record rather than implying no funding). The posting dates in the record show a creation date of April 30, 2020, and an original closing date of June 30, 2020. For applicants and program designers, MSHA also points to its public fatality report database as a resource for shaping training around the most common and severe causes of mining fatalities.

• The Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Mine Health and Safety Grants" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 17.600.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 30, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 30, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 56 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for 326631

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