On Wednesday, December 7, 2011, at approximately 7:30 a.m., a 49-year-old excavator operator, with 20 years of mining experience, was fatally injured when a highwall he was working near collapsed. The excavator was being used to load rock trucks. The operator’s cab was positioned on the highwall side when the accident occurred.
Best Practices
- Operate excavators with the cab perpendicular to, and away from, the highwall.
- Design benches to safely accommodate the type of equipment used and include this in the Ground Control Plan.
- Examine highwalls from as many perspectives as possible (bottom, sides, and top/crest) while maintaining the safety of the examiner(s). Look for signs of cracking or other geologic discontinuities.
- Use auxiliary lighting during non-daylight hours to conduct highwall examinations and to illuminate active work areas.
- Perform supplemental examinations of highwalls, banks, benches, and sloping terrain in the working area during inclement weather.
- Immediately remove all personnel exposed to hazardous ground conditions, barricade, and/or post signs to prevent entry, and promptly correct the unsafe conditions.
- Brief foremen and miners coming to work on any uncorrected hazardous conditions, and ensure the hazardous conditions are noted in the on-shift examination record book.
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), MSHA Investigation Report (pdf).