Fall of Face/Rib/Highwall

Fatality #8 for Coal Mining 2013

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ftl2013c08On Friday, March 22, 2013, a 29-year old continuous mining machine operator, with 9 years of mining experience, was killed while operating a remote-controlled continuous mining machine during retreat mining. While mining a left hand lift, the victim and his helper were positioned near the right rear corner of the continuous mining machine and the right rib. A section of roof, approximately 8 feet long by 7 feet wide and 16 inches thick, fell and broke several roof bolts. The fallen rock struck the victim and knocked down the victim’s helper, injuring him. The slab of rock that fell was a portion of a larger fall, approximately 20 feet wide by 25 feet long, that included the bolted roof between the rear of the continuous mining machine and the mobile roof support units located inby.

Best Practices

  • Ensure that the approved Roof Control Plan support provisions are suitable for the geological conditions at the mine and that the plan is followed.
  • Develop a map of geologic features, so additional support can focus on those areas.
  • Conduct frequent and adequate examinations of roof, face, and ribs. Be alert for changing conditions. When hazardous conditions are detected, danger off access to the area until it is made safe for work and travel.
  • Maintain proper entry widths and pillar dimensions.
  • Develop a safe procedure to align Mobile Roof Supports with the lift being mined.
  • Install and examine test holes regularly for changes in roof strata.
  • Take additional measures when hazards associated with draw rock are encountered, such as mining shorter cuts and decreasing roof bolt spacing.
  • When joints are encountered, install adequate supplemental support.

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

Fatality #1 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2013

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ftl2013m01On January 7, 2013, a 49-year old assistant plant manager with 30 years of experience was injured at a crushed stone operation. The victim was working on a lift, taking samples from a highwall, when a large rock fell and struck him. He was hospitalized and died on January 19, 2013.

Best Practices

  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures for working near highwalls. Identify and control all hazards.
  • Train all persons to recognize adverse conditions and environmental factors that can decrease highwall stability and understand safe job procedures to eliminate all hazards before beginning work.
  • Look, Listen and Evaluate pit and highwall conditions daily, especially after each rain, freeze, or thaw.
  • Remove loose or overhanging material from the face. Correct hazardous conditions by working from a safe location.
  • Ensure that work or travel areas and equipment are a safe distance from the toe of the highwall.

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

Fatality #10 for Coal Mining 2012

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On Monday, June 25, 2012, at approximately 11:45 AM, a 33-year-old outby foreman with 7 years of experience was killed while installing additional rib/roof support in the No. 5 belt/track entry. The victim was wedging a timber against the mine roof to support the rib, when a section of the left hand rib rolled on top of him. The rock was approximately 14 feet long, 4 feet high, and 17 inches thick.

  • Conduct thorough pre-shift and on-shift examinations of the roof, face, and ribs. A thorough exam must be conducted before any work or travel is started in an area and thereafter as conditions warrant.
  • Support any loose roof or rib material adequately or scale loose material from a safe location before working or traveling in an area.
  • Danger-off areas that have hazardous roof or rib conditions until they are made safe.
  • Take additional safety precautions when mining heights increase because rib fall injury rates increase substantially as the mining height increases.
  • Use rib bolting to control unstable ribs. Rib bolts provide the best protection against rib falls and are most effective when installed on cycle and in a consistent pattern.
  • Be alert to changing geologic conditions which may affect roof/rib conditions.
  • Ensure that the Approved Roof Control Plan is followed and is suitable for the geologic conditions encountered.
  • Revise the Approved Roof Control Plan as needed when adverse conditions are encountered.

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

Fatality #4 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2012

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On March 20, 2012, a 54 year-old mine owner with approximately 25 years of experience was killed at an underground gemstone mine. He was cleaning fine ore with a shovel and loading it in the bucket of a front-end loader when rock fell from the top left rib about 20 feet high. The victim was working alone.

Best Practices

  • Examine work areas and identify and control all hazards before starting any work.
  • Establish safe work procedures and train all persons to recognize and understand these procedures.
  • Always examine, sound, and test for loose ground in areas before starting to work, after blasting, and as ground conditions warrant.
  • Test for loose material frequently during work activities and where necessary, scale loose material safely.
  • Install ground support in roof and ribs where conditions warrant.
  • Do not perform work alone in any area where hazardous conditions exist that would endanger your safety.
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), MSHA Investigation Report (pdf), Overview (powerpoint), Overview (pdf).

Fatality #4 for Coal Mining 2012

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On Saturday, March 10, 2012, at approximately 6:15 p.m., a 34-year-old section foreman with 11 years of experience was killed while operating a continuous mining machine in the No. 2 entry. He was struck by a section of rock that fell from the right-hand rib. The rock was approximately 10 feet and 6 inches long, 3 feet and 4 inches high, and 10 inches thick.

Best Practices

  • Conduct thorough pre-shift and on-shift examinations of the roof, face, and ribs. A thorough exam must be conducted before any work or travel is started in an area and thereafter as conditions warrant.
  • Support any loose roof or rib material adequately or scale loose material before working or traveling in an area.
  • When hazardous roof or rib conditions are detected, areas should be dangered-off until they are made safe.
  • Rib bolts, installed on cycle and in a consistent pattern, provide the best protection from rib falls.
  • Assure that the Approved Roof Control Plan is followed and is suitable for the geologic conditions encountered. If adverse conditions are encountered, the plan must be revised to provide adequate support for the control of the roof, face, and ribs.
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf),  MSHA Investigation Report (pdf).

Fatality #2 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2012

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On February 14, 2012, a 40 year-old mine owner with 8 years of experience was killed at a shale operation. The victim was operating an excavator with a rock breaker attachment. He was breaking and mining material from a near vertical wall when the face fell onto the cab of the excavator, crushing him.

Best Practices

  • Operate excavators with the cab and tracks perpendicular to, and away from, the highwall.
  • Bench or slope the material to maintain stability and to safely accommodate the type of equipment used. Do not undercut material on the face of a slope, bank, or highwall.
  • Examine highwalls, slopes, and banks from as many perspectives as possible (bottom, sides, and top/crest) while maintaining the safety of the examiner(s). Look for signs of cracking, bulging, sliding, toppling or other signs of instability. Record the type and location of hazardous conditions.
  • 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.
  • Immediately remove all personnel exposed to hazardous ground conditions and promptly correct the unsafe conditions. When the conditions can not be corrected, barricade and post signs to prevent entry.
  • Remove loose or overhanging material from the face. Correct hazardous conditions by working from a safe location.
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), MSHA Investigation Report (pdf), Overview (powerpoint), Overview (pdf).

Fatality #23 for Coal Mining 2011

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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).

Fatality #18 & #19 for Coal Mining 2011

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On Friday, October 28, 2011, a 47-year old lead blaster and 23-year old blaster helper were killed when the 1-ton truck they were riding was struck and completely covered by fallen rock from a failed highwall. The victims were driving in the pit, past a trackhoe loading coal as they approached their work area. The rock reached approximately 80′ across the 100′ wide pit and struck the trackhoe and a haulage vehicle being loaded at the time of the accident.

Best Practices

  • Train all miners to recognize hazardous highwall conditions.
  • Look, Listen and Evaluate your highwall and pit conditions daily, especially after each rain, freeze, or thaw.
  • Be your own examiner and find hazards before they find you.
  • Maintain adequate lighting to aid in examinations of highwalls and pit during no light or low light situations.
  • Observe and communicate highwall hazards immediately.
  • Insure appropriate action is taken to remove the hazards associated with any anomaly that may appear in the highwall or pit.
  • Ensure that personnel’s work or travel areas and mining systems or equipment are operating are a safe distance from the toe of the highwall.
  • Follow safe job procedures.
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), MSHA Investigation Report (pdf).

Fatality #9 for Coal Mining 2011

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On Wednesday, June 29, 2011, at approximately 11:15 a.m., a 49 year old continuous haulage cable attendant was killed when he was struck by a section of rib. The rock was approximately 82 inches long, 36 inches wide, and 11 inches thick. The mining height at the accident site was just over seven feet, and the depth of cover was 700 feet.

Best Practices

  • Conduct thorough pre-shift and on-shift examinations of the roof, face, and ribs immediately before working or traveling in an area, and thereafter as conditions warrant.
  • Know and follow the Approved Roof Control Plan. Take additional measures to protect persons when hazards are encountered.
  • Assure the Approved Roof Control Plan is suitable for prevailing geological conditions. Revise the plan if conditions change and the support system is not adequate to control the roof, face, and ribs.
  • Rib bolts provide the best protection against rib falls and are most effective when installed on cycle and in a consistent pattern.
  • Be alert to changing geological conditions which may affect roof, rib, and face conditions.
  • Support loose ribs or roof adequately or scale down loose material before beginning work.
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), MSHA Investigation Report (pdf).

Fatality #8 for Coal Mining 2011

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On Monday, June 27, 2011, a 33 year old miner was killed when a portion of coal and rock fell from the upper portion of a pillar rib. The material that fell was approximately 8 feet long, by 32 inches thick, by 3 feet high.

Best Practices

  • Conduct a thorough visual examination of the roof, face, and ribs immediately before any work or travel is started in an area and thereafter as conditions warrant.
  • Perform careful examinations of pillar corners, particularly where the angles are formed between entries and crosscuts are less than 90 degrees.
  • Support any loose rib or roof material adequately or scale before beginning work.
  • Take additional safety precautions when mining heights increase to prevent development of rib hazards.
  • In areas prone to deterioration, install rib support when the area is mined initially.
  • Be alert to changing geologic conditions which may affect roof/rib conditions.
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), MSHA Investigation Report (pdf).