Month: February 2015

January 2015 Impact Inspections

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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration announced that federal inspectors issued 176 citations, eight orders and one safeguard during special impact inspections conducted at 13 coal mines and three metal and nonmetal mines in January.

Begun in force in April 2010, the monthly inspections involve mines that merit increased agency attention and enforcement due to their poor compliance history or particular compliance concerns.

Click here for: MSHA link to spreadsheet (pdf).

Fatality #4 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2015

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m04On January 26, 2015, a 57-year old heavy equipment operator with 36 years of experience was seriously injured at a phosphate mine.  He was operating an excavator near a water filled ditch when the excavator tipped forward and went in the water, submerging the cab.  The victim was removed from the cab and transported to a hospital where he died later that day.

Best Practices

  • Task train all persons to recognize all potential hazardous conditions and safe job procedures to identify and eliminate all hazards before beginning work, specifically the limited visibility of large equipment.
  • Discuss safe work procedures before beginning work.  Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed and the methods to properly protect miners.
  • Provide traffic patterns and roads that minimize the danger of machines traveling near bodies of water.
  • Conduct examinations of travelways to evaluate hazards.
  • Install barriers, markers, or other warning devices to aid equipment operators where travelways are not recognizable or hazards are not apparent.  Limit travel of mobile equipment and inform mobile equipment operators of hazards.
  • Do not travel into areas where ground conditions can’t be verified.  If necessary, use the bucket of the machine to probe the travel/work area to check the ground conditions.

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

Fatality #3 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2015

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m03On January 21, 2015, a 54-year old miner (ground support) with 4 years of experience was killed at an underground lead mine.  The victim was operating a mechanical scaler in an intersection when a roof fall (55 feet long x 20 feet wide x 6 feet thick) occurred, covering the machine.

Best Practices

  • Establish safe work procedures that ensure a safe work location for miners conducting scaling operations, and train all miners to recognize and understand these procedures.
  • Discuss safe work procedures before beginning work.  Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed and the methods to properly protect miners.
  • Always examine and test areas for loose ground before starting to work, after blasting, and as ground conditions warrant.
  • Identify and scale loose material from a safe position which will not expose miners to falling material.
  • Test for loose material frequently during work activities.  Be alert to any change of ground conditions.
  • Install ground support in roof and ribs where conditions warrant.
  • Use equipment with a reach that reduces the possibility of the equipment being struck by falling material.

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

Fatality #2 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2015

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2On January 11, 2015, a 53-year old contract shaft miner with 35 years of experience was killed at an underground gold mine.  The victim was positioned on a work platform on top of a skip traveling up the ventilation shaft.  He struck a steel cross member on a beam in the shaft.

Best Practices

  • Train all persons in hazard recognition, awareness of their surroundings, and safe positioning when riding skips.
  • To prevent hazard exposure, require safe positioning for personnel who ride skips.
  • Monitor all persons for safe positioning when riding skips.
  • Place warning signs on skip platforms to remind persons to keep body parts inside the handrails.

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

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)