This slide presentation, compiled in 2010, provides detailed information to help the metal and nonmetal mining industry meet MSHA’s requirements for guarding conveyor belts. Photos of a variety of situations show the right and wrong ways to construct guards that protect miners from exposure to conveyor belt moving parts and satisfy MSHA regulations. The information supplements guarding guidance in MSHA’s 2004 Guide to Equipment Guarding and Program Policy Manual.
On March 5, 2021, a 63 year old mine manager* was fatally injured when the excavator he was operating rolled over into a body of water at a sand and gravel mine with 5 employees in Mount Sterling, IL*.
Best Practices:
Additional Information:
This is the sixth fatality reported in 2021, and the second classified as “Machinery.” (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)
Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).
On Feb. 25, 2021, a 26-year old plant operator died after entering a cyclone discharge box at an industrial sand mine with 9 employees in West Valley City, Nevada*. The local fire department recovered the victim lodged in an 18-inch wide discharge pipe that was full of water.
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This is the fifth fatality reported in 2021, and the first classified as “Slip or Fall of Person.” (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)
Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).
When do you need a new pair of work shoes? Don’t wait until they cost you a painful slip and fall. This CDC/NIOSH graphic is available in English and Spanish. Download it and use it in training or post for employees to read. Of all the tools we should inspect before use your shoes may be the one you actually use the most but don’t even think about it. A new pair of workshoes may seem expensive if you think you can extend them a few weeks with some duct tape, but they don’t come even close to costing as much as a hospital visit even if you aren’t paying the bill.
MSHA has issued guidance intended for miners and operators in coal, metal, or nonmetal mines to help them identify risks of being exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, at work and to help them determine appropriate control measures to reduce such risk. This guidance contains recommendations, as well as descriptions of mandatory safety and health standards. It is not a standard or regulation, and it creates no new legal obligations. The recommendations are advisory in nature, informational in content, and are intended to assist operators in recognizing and abating hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm from the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) as part of their obligation to provide a safe and healthful mine.
Operators should implement COVID-19 Prevention Programs at each mine. Operators may consider a stand-alone program or additions to existing training and education programs. The most effective programs engage miners and miner representatives in the program’s development, and include the following key elements:
On Feb. 22, 2021, a 26-year-old underground chute puller was fatally injured as a passenger of a rail-mounted locomotive when he was crushed between the deck of the locomotive and an overhead chute at a lead-zinc ore underground mine with 114 employees in Strawberry Plains, TN*.
Best Practices:
Additional Information:
This is the 4th fatality reported in 2021, and the third classified as “Powered Haulage.” *(details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data)
Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), final report (pdf).
It’s OSHA and Construction which you might also be involved with, so you want to plan to participate now. Otherwise there are still great materials here.
On February 8, 2021, a 38 year old ground man* was fatally injured when he became entangled in a fluted tail pulley while attempting to shovel under an adjacent fluted tail pulley at a limestone min in Potosi, MO with 12 employees*.
Best Practices:
Additional Information:
This is the third fatality reported in 2021, and the second classified as “Powered Haulage.” *(details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data)
Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).
February is National Heart Month. The National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute (NHLBI) provides all kinds of material on healthy hearts to share any time of the year. Download Fact Sheets, Social Media Resources, State Based Infocards, Articlee, Power Point Slides, Flyers, and GIF’s like the one above.
Access the materials here. (web site)