About Us

CBS Equipment is committed to supply mining companies with reliable, inventive, quality equipment as well as top notch customer service. With over 30 years’ experience in the mining industry designing, building and repairing all types of mining equipment, CBS Equipment can provide you with the equipment needed to get the job done. We are able to customize any equipment to meet your needs and we house parts and equipment to meet your demand in the field.

CBS Equipment is the original inventor and patent holder of the LifeShelterTM with over 1,600 licensed shelters operating under our patent. The inflatable mine refuge shelter allows 34 miners to survive 96 hrs in a gas impermeable tent that provides O2 production, CO2 scrubbing, food and water.

In 2004, Ed Roscioli, a chemical engineer with a background in the nuclear power industry, founded CBS Equipment with the intent to provide protection against chemical and biological attacks. On January 2, 2006 CBS Equipment re-directed their focus as a result of the Sago, WV underground coal mine explosion that trapped 13 miners in a CO filled environment, only one of which survived. By February 2006, one month after the Sago disaster, CBS Equipment unveiled the LifeShelterTM that allowed miners to seek refuge until rescued. On March 9, 2007, the WVOMHST issued an approval for the LifeShelterTM to be used in all WV underground coal mines. MSHA later passed laws requiring shelters throughout all US underground mines.

CBS Equipment was the first non-Chinese manufacturer to receive approval to use the patented shelters underground, and to date there are over 1,600 shelters throughout the world that is working under the ChemBio LifeShelterTM patent. In addition, CBS Equipment is the only shelter manufacturer to receive approval from MSHA on a CO2 scrubbing device.

Jerry Piercy, COO
Jerry Piercy, COO
Jerry Piercy received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from WVU Tech and quickly became a lead designer of underground coal mining equipment before going to work in underground coal mines, starting with operating equipment to managing coal companies. Jerry eventually came back to his passion of designing, building and selling coal mining equipment. Shortly after Sago Jerry worked with the WV Mine Safety Task Force to help bring refuge alternatives to the underground mining industry. Jerry is also responsible for designing various types of rockdusting and mobile equipment operating in the field today and understands the sense of urgency that coal companies require.