On May 18, 2021, a telehandler at an underground mine with 113 employees and 7 contract employees* was towing a trailer with a diesel pump onboard up an inclined underground roadway when the tow hitch suddenly broke. The trailer rolled down the roadway, striking and fatally injuring a 35 year old* contract laborer with 1 year experience*.
Best Practices:
- Use towing hardware (hitches, tow bars, receivers, couplers, pins, pintles, safety chains/cables, etc.) which is properly designed and rated. Before each use, examine towing hardware for wear, cracks and other damage.
- Never exceed the recommended maximum towing capacity of a tow vehicle or trailer. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations and only use equipment designed for towing.
- Always use properly sized safety chains in conjunction with hitches. Safety chains keep the trailer connected to the tow vehicle in case the other tow hardware fails.
- Never position yourself directly behind equipment being towed uphill.
- Establish procedures for safe and proper towing. Train miners to follow these procedures and identify hazards associated with towing.
Additional Information:
This is the 12th fatality reported in 2021, and the third classified as “Machinery.” (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)
Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), final report (pdf).