On April 19, 2021, a 28 year old haul truck driver with 37 weeks and 5 days experience* stopped his haul truck in front of his personal vehicle to get his lunch at a crushed stone mine with 27 employees.* While standing and eating his lunch, the haul truck rolled forward, pinning the miner between the haul truck and his personal truck.
Best Practices:
- Do not leave mobile equipment unattended unless the controls are placed in the park position and the brake is set. NEVER use a steering column-mounted “dump brake” for parking.
- When parking mobile equipment on a grade, chock the wheels or turn them into a bank.Maintain equipment braking systems in good repair and adjustment.
- Position yourself in a safe location away from potential “danger-zone” areas.
- Train miners to safely perform their tasks.
Additional Information:
This is the eighth fatality reported in 2021, and the fourth classified as “Powered Haulage.” (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)
Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).
On October 17, 2017, a miner was fatally injured while operating a bulldozer on a downward slope. While pushing overburden to a rock bench below the top of the pit, he was ejected from the cab and run over by the left track. The machine continued to tram over the edge of the 58′ highwall.
On September 8, 2016, a 58-year old Haul Truck Operator with 23 years of experience was killed at a granite mine. The victim was operating a Caterpillar 773E haul truck and was returning to the pit to be loaded with shot rock. The truck veered from the right side of the haul road to the left and traveled over the berm at the top of the highwall. The truck landed upside down approximately 150 feet below. The victim was found outside the haul truck.
On July 25, 2016, a 59 year old Excavator Operator, with 17 years of experience, was killed at a limestone quarry. Prior to the accident, the victim was loading shot rock into haul trucks. While waiting for the haul trucks to return, the victim was separating out over sized rocks when the cab of his excavator was struck by falling material from the highwall.
On March 22, 2016, a 42-year old lead man with 6 years of mining experience was fatally injured at a surface limestone mine when he was struck by fly rock from blasting operations. The lead man was parked in his pickup truck at a location to prevent others from accessing the blasting site. He was approximately 1,200 feet from the blast area.