Mining Fatalities

Fatality #1 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2015

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1On January 8, 2015, a 63-year old sales manager with 11 years of experience was killed at a sand and gravel mine. He was installing new screen panels in the B tower screen. The feeder box pivoted, pinning him between the box and the rear support beam of the screen deck.

Best Practices

  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures. Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed along with the methods to properly protect persons.
  • Always follow the equipment manufacturer’s recommended maintenance procedures when conducting repairs to machinery.
  • Task train all persons to recognize all potential hazardous conditions and understand safe job procedures to eliminate all hazards before beginning work.
  • Securely block equipment and components against hazardous motion at all times while performing work.
  • Ensure that blocking material is competent, substantial, and adequate to support the load.
  • Require all persons to be positioned to prevent them from being exposed to any hazards.  Do not work in pinch points where inadvertent movement could cause injury.
  • Monitor all persons to ensure safe work procedures, including safe work positioning, are followed.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), MSHA Investigation Report (pdf), Overview (powerpoint), Overview (pdf).

Fatality #25 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m25On November 10, 2014, a 45-year old crusher operator with 3 years of experience was seriously injured at a granite mine. The miner was using a torch to cut a drill bit that was wedged in a jaw crusher when the bit freed and struck him. The victim was hospitalized and died on January 17, 2015, as a result of his injuries.

Best Practices

  • Task train miners to identify and control all hazards associated with their work.
  • Establish and discuss policies and procedures for safely clearing a jaw crusher.
  • Implement measures to ensure miners are positioned safely and protected from hazards while performing a task.
  • Consider a mechanical method for clearing material to minimize exposure.
  • Before working on or near equipment, deenergize the power and lock out/tag out.
  • Securely block equipment against hazardous motion to ensure energy cannot be released.
  • Provide a safe means of access for miners required to maintain a jaw crusher.
  • Provide guards, shields, or other devices to protect miners from flying or falling materials at screens, crushers, or conveyors.
  • Install equipment to detect and prevent metal from entering a crusher.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #24 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m24On December 29, 2014, a 21-year-old warehouse bagger with 1 week of experience was killed at a clay mine. The victim was operating a forklift, hauling a bag of dust, when the forklift overturned.

Best Practices

  • Indoctrinate new employees in safety rules and safe work procedures.
  • Task train mobile equipment operators adequately in all phases of mobile equipment operation before operating mobile equipment.
  • Monitor new miners routinely to determine that safe work procedures are followed.
  • Conduct adequate pre-operational checks and correct any defects affecting safety in a timely manner prior to operating mobile equipment.
  • Ensure the load being transported is within the weight capacity of the machine and within the reach limits for stable operation.
  • Ensure the load being transported is secured to prevent shifting.
  • Always wear a seat belt when operating self-propelled mobile equipment.
  • Maintain control of self-propelled mobile equipment while it is in motion.
  • Operate mobile equipment at speeds consistent with the conditions of roadways, tracks, grades, clearance, visibility, curves, and traffic.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #23 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m23On December 1, 2014, a 46-year-old contract truck driver with 26 years of experience was killed at a limestone mine.  The articulating haul truck he was operating traveled over a roadway berm and went into a large pond.  Dive teams extricated the victim from the truck.

Best Practices

  • Task train mobile equipment operators adequately in all phases of mobile equipment operation before operating mobile equipment.
  • Conduct adequate pre-operational checks and correct any defects affecting safety in a timely manner prior to operating mobile equipment.
  • Always wear a seat belt when operating self-propelled mobile equipment.
  • Maintain control of self-propelled mobile equipment while it is in motion.
  • Operate mobile equipment at speeds consistent with the conditions of roadways, tracks, grades, clearance, visibility, curves, and traffic.
  • Provide and maintain adequate berms or guardrails on the banks of roadways where a drop-off exists.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #22 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m22On November 25, 2014, a 67-year-old truck driver with 10½ years of experience was killed at a sandstone mine.  The victim backed a haul truck to the edge of the overburden dumpsite and started to raise the truck’s bed to dump a load of material.  The bank failed, causing the truck to overturn and fall 30 feet below. The victim died en route to the hospital.

Best Practices

  • Task train all persons to understand safe job procedures.
  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures before beginning work.
  • Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed.
  • Conduct adequate pre-operational checks prior to operating mobile equipment.
  • Always wear a seat belt when operating self-propelled mobile equipment.
  • Examine dumping locations for stability prior to dumping the first load and as ground conditions warrant during the work shift.  Where trucks are loaded out of the stockpile or ground conditions may fail to support the weight of the truck, dump loads a safe distance back from the edge.
  • Maintain berms or similar impeding devices at dumping locations where there is a hazard of overtravel or overturning.
  • Travel in a straight line when backing a truck toward a dump location.  Do not approach on a turn.
  • Monitor persons routinely to determine safe work procedures are followed.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #15 for Coal Mining 2014

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c15On Tuesday, December 16, 2014, a 34-year-old repairman, with approximately 15 years of mining experience, was killed when struck by a ram car while he was walking inby toward the face of the No. 7 entry. The ram car operator moved the ram car into the No. 7 entry with the batteries positioned outby the face area and then traveled towards the face area, striking the victim with the left side, trailer end of the ram car.

Best Practices

  • Use proximity detection systems to protect personnel from accidents of this type.  See the proximity detection single source page on the MSHA web site.
  • Ensure that visibility is clear in the direction of travel and across the equipment being operated.
  • Use transparent curtain for checks and line curtains in the active face areas.
  • Sound audible warnings if the equipment operator’s visibility is obstructed, when making turns, reversing direction, or approaching ventilation curtains.  Ensure the sound levels of audible warnings are significantly higher than ambient noise.
  • Come to a complete stop and sound an audible warning before moving equipment through ventilation controls/curtains.
  • Operate lights in the direction of travel when operating haulage equipment.
  • Position yourself in an area or location where equipment operators can readily see you and confirm eye contact with the operator.
  • Require the use of personal strobe lights for any foot traffic inby the tailpiece.  Position personal strobe lights on the back of hard hats or equivalent areas and use reflective materials to ensure maximum visibility.
  • For more information related to struck-by equipment accidents, view the following link: MSHA – Safety Targets Programs – Hit By Underground Equipment at www.msha.gov

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #21 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m21On November 18, 2014, a 42-year-old contract supervisor with 19½ years of experience was killed at an alumina operation.  A crane was lifting a 2,500 pound door to be installed on a filtrate tank.  The welded lifting eye on the door broke loose and the door fell, pinning the victim on the concrete floor.

Best Practices

  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures before beginning work.
  • Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed.
  • Task train all persons to understand safe job procedures and to stay clear of suspended loads.
  • Use welded lifting eyes that are specifically intended for lifting and adequately rated for the loads being lifted.
  • Use certified welders and good quality welds when attaching lifting eyes or lugs.
  • Ensure the weld metal is compatible with the base metal of the connecting components and thoroughly clean any rust or scale from a surface prior to welding.
  • Carefully inspect all rigging prior to each use.
  • Attach taglines to loads that may need steadied or to be guided while suspended.
  • Avoid extreme side loading on a lifting eye or lug unless it is designed to handle such loading.
  • Monitor persons routinely to determine safe work procedures are followed.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #20 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m20aOn October 10, 2014, a 66-year-old contract truck driver with approximately 11 years of experience was killed at a cement operation.  The driver was inside a loading rack closing the hatch on top of a bulk tanker truck.  When the victim raised the rack to access the hatch, he fell between the rack and rounded side of the truck and then fell to the ground.

Best Practices

  • Establish traffic patterns to ensure safe alignment of vehicles with access equipment.
  • Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed and use methods to properly protect persons.
  • Ensure that persons are trained, including task-training, to address the hazards associated with the work being performed.
  • Always use fall protection when working where a fall hazard exists.
  • Always be aware of your surroundings and any hazards that may be present.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #19 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m19aOn September 26, 2014, a 55-year-old maintenance mechanic with approximately 2 years of experience was killed on the surface of an underground salt mine.  The victim was performing maintenance on a forklift in a mill building when the forklift moved forward, pinning him against a wooden support pole.

Best Practices

  • Conduct a pre-operational check to identify and correct any defects that may affect the safe operation prior to operating mobile equipment.  Remove the mobile equipment from service if any defective items are not corrected.
  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures before beginning work. Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed and use methods to properly protect persons.
  • Ensure that persons are trained, including task-training, to address the hazards associated with the work being performed.
  • Block and secure equipment against motion before performing maintenance.
  • Follow the equipment manufacturers recommended maintenance procedures when performing repairs to machinery.
  • Ensure that equipment control switches are in the off position and the brake is set before performing maintenance.
  • Always be aware of your surroundings and any hazards that may be present.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)