On February 27, 2017, a 43-year-old plant attendant, with approximately 13 years of experience, was fatally injured when he fell through a 27-inch opening in a plate press. The victim had climbed a ladder to repair a damaged plate when he fell about 19 feet onto a moving refuse belt. The victim was found in a transfer chute, approximately 55 feet down the belt from where he had fallen.
- Provide and maintain safe access to all work areas. Train miners on how to safely access all work areas.
- Protect and guard all openings through which persons may fall. Use fall protection, maintaining 100 % tie off, when fall hazards exist. See Fall Prevention Safety Target Package.
- Establish specific policies and procedures for the use of fall protection.
- Ensure workers are trained in the use of fall protection. Monitor work practices to ensure fall protection is being properly used.
- Conduct a risk assessment of the work area prior to beginning any task and identify all possible hazards. Use the SLAM: Stop, Look, Analyze, and Manage approach for work place safety.
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).
On January 25, 2017, a miner was found in an underground limestone mine after failing to exit the mine at the end of the shift. The miner was located under material that had fallen from the rib in an area of the mine that had been barricaded to prevent entry due to bad roof and rib conditions.
On February 3, 2017, a 54-year-old truck driver received hip and leg fractures when he jumped from the cab of his truck as it was overturning. The victim positioned the truck on the dump pad and began raising the bed. Material in the bed was frozen or compacted and created an uneven load. As the bed reached full extension, the truck fell over. Due to complications associated with his injuries, the victim passed away 7 days later.
On Thursday, January 26, 2017, a 42-year-old miner with 23 years of mining experience was fatally injured when he contacted a moving drive roller for the section belt. The victim was positioned between the guard and the conveyor belt drive when he came in contact with the shaft of the belt drive roller.
On December 2, 2016, a technical representative for a shield manufacturer, with 13 years of experience, received fatal injuries while adding components to the hydraulic system of a longwall shield. The victim was positioned inside the shield near the hinge point when the shield collapsed and crushed him.
On December 21, 2016, a 39-year old contract truck driver, with 11 months of mining experience, was injured on the surface of an underground gold mine. The victim was hauling gold ore in an over-the-road truck from the mine to the plant. While descending the roadway from the mine, the victim lost control of his truck. He traveled up an embankment and over an approximate 20 foot drop, landing back in the roadway. The victim was transported to the hospital and died from his injuries several days later.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration announced federal inspectors issued 132 citations and two orders during special impact inspections conducted at 10 coal mines and five metal and nonmetal mines in December 2016.
On October 9, 2016, a 61 year old Equipment Operator, with 3 years of experience, was fatally injured at a sand surface mine. The victim was attempting to attach a screen plant to a front-end loader by hooking them together with a steel cable when the equipment moved pinning the victim. The victim was later discovered injured and leaning against the loader bucket. The victim died of his injuries the following day.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration announces a final rule that will enhance the quality of working place examinations in metal and nonmetal mines. The final rule improves miners’ safety and health by requiring mine operators to: (1) conduct working place examinations to identify hazards before work begins in an area, (2) notify affected miners of hazardous conditions that are not corrected immediately; and (3) record the locations examined, the adverse conditions found, and the date of the corrective action.