Since 2021, customer truck drivers have been involved in six fatal accidents.
Best Practices
Provide site-specific hazard awareness training to customers, including commercial over-the-road truck drivers.
Alert customer truck drivers to changes in traffic procedures, patterns, or road conditions.
Provide fall protection or safe means of access to customers who need to gain access to containers or tankers on their vehicles if there is danger of falling.
Provide and maintain a safe location for drivers to tarp their loads.
Ensure customers follow proper loading and dumping procedures.
In the last six months, 11 miners received injuries due to electric arc flashes.
Best Practices
Establish safe procedures before beginning work and discuss the plan with all miners involved in the task.
Electricians must know how to de-energize and disconnect electrical systems and equipment.
Use properly rated electrical meters and personal protective equipment, such as electrically rated gloves, insulated blankets or mats, and polycarbonate barriers.
Lock out and tag out circuits before working on electrical equipment.
Identify and control all hazardous energy sources before conducting any task.
Open the circuit breaker or load break switch to de-energize the incoming power cables or conductors.
Open the visual disconnect to confirm incoming power is off.
This Final Rule became effective in January and will be enforced starting July 17, 2024. It requires all operators and many if not most contractors to:
develop a written Mobile Equipment Safety Program,
appoint at least one responsible person to evaluate and update the program at least once a year,
identify current and emerging technology that would be feasible to use,
and more.
The Final Rule is here, and templates and other resources here.
Cold weather can cause cold stress, which can lead to hypothermia, frostbite, and other severe injuries, and illnesses.
Best Practices
Monitor your physical condition and that of your coworkers.
Wear appropriate clothing.
Wear clothing that allows a full range of motion necessary for the tasks of the work.
Move into warm locations during breaks.
Include chemical hot packs in your first aid kit.
Avoid touching cold metal surfaces with bare skin.
In addition, some portable heaters can emit deadly carbon monoxide (CO). CO is odorless and colorless and can accumulate in confined spaces and enclosed areas such as the cabs of vehicles, work trailers, and unventilated areas. Exposure to 200 parts per million of CO for 15 minutes can cause disorientation, unconsciousness and eventual death.
Best Practices
Maintenance of fuel-burning equipment and vehicles is crucial. Vehicle exhaust systems need to be regularly inspected for leaks or other damage.
Monitors and audible alarm systems should be in place wherever CO is a potential hazard. Use portable CO detectors as necessary.
Properly ventilate work areas. The ventilation system should be designed and maintained to remove contaminants from the mine atmosphere.
Maintain travelways and keep them free of ice and debris.
It’s as regular as the seasons, HEAT, and as it arrives MSHA alerts us about related health issues. “Mining in hot work areas during summer can cause serious health issues for miners. Everyone needs to recognize the hazards of heat stress and mine operators should provide heat-stress recognition training, monitoring, and personal protective equipment,” says MSHA.
The latest alert contains advice on symptoms and what to do or NOT do to treat them. Most importantly it also says this about Preventing Heat Stress:
Provide cool drinking water near miners.
Encourage miners to drink a cup of water every 15 to 20 minutes.
Avoid drinks with caffeine and large amounts of sugar.
Use sunblockers, proper protective clothing and shade.
Use administrative controls to rotate miners on hot jobs.
Schedule heavy tasks during cooler times of the day.
MSHA has issued the following alert concerning Hazardous Chemicals:
“Recent train derailments and chemical spills, including several incidents on mine sites, have increased the importance of maintaining awareness about hazardous chemicals used in mining. Miners working with and around chemicals can be exposed to hazards that result in injuries or illnesses from exposure to chemicals. Safe handling of chemicals can prevent accidents, injuries, and illnesses.”
Best Practices
Operators should:
Store hazardous, flammable, and combustible materials in a manner that minimizes dangers to miners.
Warn against potential hazards; caution against unsafe practices; and provide instructions on the proper use of personal protective equipment.
Provide miners personal protective equipment to use, such as gloves, safety glasses or goggles, and NIOSH-approved respirators, as applicable.
Train miners on the task to be performed; on working with or near chemical hazards; and performing appropriate emergency response procedures.
Provide miners a safety data sheet for each hazardous chemical they may be exposed to during each work shift.
MSHA has a collection of helpful training cards online in pdf format that you can download and print to hand out or send links to others to use. By a quick estimate (there were too many to count and the numbering helps but is inconsistent) there are over 200 including many in Spanish and English.
