Mining Fatalities

MNM Fatality – 8/3/21

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On August 3, 2021, a 62 year old Utility Person with 14 years 48 weeks experience* was run over by a customer tractor-trailer while walking to his normal work area at a mine in Bridgeport, TX with 83 employees*.

Best Practices: 

  • Assure adequate illumination sufficient to provide safe working conditions.
  • Communicate with mobile equipment operators and make eye contact to ensure they acknowledge your presence. Be aware of the location and traffic patterns of mobile equipment in your work area.
  • Wear high visibility clothing when working around mobile equipment.
  • Wear strobe lights near mobile equipment.
  • Assure traffic controls provide for safe movement of mobile equipment and are followed. Operate mobile equipment at reduced speeds in work areas.
  • Stay clear of normal paths of travel for mobile equipment and train all persons to recognize work place hazards.

Additional Information: 

This is the 23rd fatality reported in 2021, and the ninth classified as “Powered Haulage.” (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)

Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).

Coal Fatality – 8/1/21

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On August 1, 2021, a 38 year old utility person with 12 years 41 weeks experience drowned at a mine in Huntington, UT with 122 employees* during a flash flood while traveling in a personnel carrier to go to the mine portal.  The miner exited the personnel carrier as the floodwater engulfed the vehicle.  As the miner attempted to assist other miners, he was carried away by the floodwater. 

Best Practices: 

•    Monitor flash-flood watches and warnings and other adverse weather conditions, such as severe storm events, that could affect the safety of mine personnel.  Use NOAA Weather Radio or a smartphone app to monitor hazardous weather conditions in your area.
•    Establish policies and procedures to provide adequate warning to all mine personnel of ongoing weather conditions pertaining to flash floods and other adverse weather conditions.
•    Establish policies restricting access to areas likely, or known, to be affected by flash floods or other adverse weather conditions.  Do not travel across flooded roadways.
•    Properly design drainage systems, especially in areas where the terrain enhances water runoff and flooding.  Changes in a watershed, such as timbering or surface mining, can increase water runoff and flooding.
•    Examine drainage systems and features to ensure they are functioning and unobstructed.Additional Information: 

This is the 22nd fatality reported in 2021, and the first classified as “Inundation.” (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)

Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).

MNM Fatality – 7/28/21

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On July 28, 2021, a 42 year old ledge foreman with 12 years 7 weeks experience* was standing on a rock ledge at a mine with 8 employees in Elberton, GA* to extract dimensional stone when a triangular section of the rock broke off, causing the miner to fall approximately 35 feet.

Best Practices: 

  • Use fall protection when a potential fall hazard exists.  Ensure fall protection has a suitable fall arrest and secure anchorage system.
  • Examine working places to identify loose ground or unstable conditions before work begins, after blasting, and as changing ground conditions warrant.  Ensure examiners have adequate training and experience to recognize potential hazards.
  • Assess risks and control hazards before beginning work activities.  Remain a safe distance from cracks and any sign of unstable ground conditions.
  • Assure a safe means of access is provided and maintained to all working places.  Use personnel lifts and ladders, as required.
  • Train miners and ensure they perform work safely, use tools properly, and utilize personal protective equipment correctly.

Additional Information: 

This is the 21st fatality reported in 2021, and the first classified as “Falling, Rolling, or Sliding Rock or Material of Any Kind.” (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)

Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).

MNM Fatality – 7/26/21

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On July 26, 2021, a 33 year old contract iron worker with 8 years 13 weeks experience*, who was not wearing fall protection, was performing maintenance on a cement cooler at a mine in Stockertown, PA with 128 employees* when a wooden board broke, causing him to fall 23 feet onto a concrete floor.

Best Practices: 

  • Assure a safe means of access is provided and maintained to all working places.  Use personnel lifts or ladders to access elevated work areas safely.
  • Use fall protection when a fall hazard exists.  Ensure fall protection has a suitable fall arrest and secure anchorage system.
  • Examine work areas, tools, and equipment. Report and correct defects. Do not use unsafe equipment.
  • Assess risks and eliminate or control hazards before beginning maintenance activities. Do not place yourself in a position that will expose you to hazards while performing a task.
  • Train miners and ensure they perform work safely, use tools properly, and utilize personal protective equipment correctly.

Additional Information: 

This is the 20th fatality reported in 2021, and the second classified as “Slip or Fall of Person.”(*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)

Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).

July Fatality Updates

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Final Reports posted:

Fatalities awaiting Fatality Alert to be posted:

  • 7/26/21 MNM – Slip or Fall of Person
  • 7/28/21 MNM – Falling or Sliding Material

Fatalities awaiting Final Report to be posted:

Coal Fatality – 7/21/21

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On July 21, 2021, a 31 year old millwright with 13 years experience* received fatal injuries at a mine in Wright, WY with 899 employees* while adding a boom extension to a crane.  The miner was working under the boom to remove the boom pins when he was struck by the boom.

Best Practices: 

  • Never perform work under raised machinery or equipment until such machinery or equipment has been securely braced in position, blocked and  secured against motion.  Be alert for hazards that may be created while the work is being performed. 
  • Conduct repairs from a safe location per manufacturer’s recommendations.  Verify the release of all stored energy before initiating repairs.
  • Use a lifting device compatible with the load being lifted and ensure blocking material is competent, substantial, and adequate to support and stabilize the load.  Always use the manufacturer’s safety devices or features to secure components against motion, and secure assemblies that rotate to prevent movement.
  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures before starting any task.  Train miners in safe work procedures and hazard recognition.  Monitor personnel routinely to ensure safe work procedures are being followed.

Additional Information: 

This is the 19th fatality reported in 2021, and the fourth classified as “Machinery.” (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)

Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).

MNM Fatality – 7/13/21

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On July 13, 2021, a rock falling from a pillar in a benched area at a room-and-pillar zinc mine with 88 employees in Strawberry Plains, TN, struck a 68 year old scaler operator with 10 years and 40 weeks experience*. The miner was in a personnel lift basket near ground level to load blasting supplies.  The rock fell from a height of approximately 40 feet, striking the basket. 

Best Practices: 

  • Support or remove loose material from a safe position before beginning work.
  • Design, install, and maintain the ground support to control the ground where people work or travel, after blasting, and as ground conditions warrant.
  • Use scaling equipment capable of maintaining safe ground conditions suitable for the mining dimensions.
  • Establish safe work procedures to ensure a safe work location for miners conducting scaling operations.  Train all miners to recognize hazards and understand these procedures.
  • Perform thorough workplace examinations where miners work or travel.
  • Be alert for changing conditions, especially after activities that could cause back/roof disturbance.

Additional Information: 

This is the 18th fatality reported in 2021, and the second classified as “Fall of Face/Rib/Highwall.”  (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)

Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).

MNM Fatality – 6/9/21

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On June 9, 2021, two miners, a 55 year old foreman with 24 years of experience and a 65 year old supervisor with 42 years’ experience*, were fatally injured at a mine with 1062 employees*, when a locomotive collided with the personnel carrier in which they were riding. 

Best Practices: 

  • Install lights or other engineering controls to let miners know when it is safe to travel on track haulageways.
  • Implement a communicaton system so that one person, who is not on any mobile equipment, has the sole authority to authorize travel on track haulageways.
  • Establish and maintain effective communication protocols that require identification, location and intended travel, between locomotives, light vehicles and foot traffic.
  • Train miners on proper traffic patterns and procedures.

Additional Information: 

These are the 16th and 17th fatalities reported in 2021, and the 8th and 9th classified as “Powered Haulage.”  (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)

Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).

MNM Fatality – 6/7/21

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On June 7, 2021, at a mine with 25 employees*, a 56 year old hopper operator with 6 years and 36 weeks experience* entered the top of a primary feed hopper to break up and remove a large rock. Raw material that remained on the sides of the hopper sloughed off and engulfed the miner.

Best Practices: 

  • Equip hoppers with mechanical devices, grates/grizzlies or other effective means of handling material so miners are not required to enter or work where they are exposed to entrapment by caving or sliding material.
  • Establish and assure policies and procedures are followed to safely remove blockages in bins and hoppers. Follow manufacturer recommendations.
  • Provide a safe means of access that allows miners to safely conduct tasks such as removing large rocks and other material.
  • Wear an appropriate safety harness, lanyard and lifeline which are securely anchored and constantly monitored and adjusted by another person, as needed, prior to entering bins or hoppers.
  • Train miners in safe work procedures and hazard recognition especially when removing blockages in bins or hoppers.

Additional Information: 

This is the 15th fatality reported in 2021, and the second classified as “Handling Material.” (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)

Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).

Coal Fatality – 6/3/21

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On Thursday, June 3, 2021, a 42-year-old section foreman with 16 years 40 weeks of experience* was fatally injured when he was hit by a shuttle car at an underground mine with 115 employees.* The victim was struck when he walked into the path of a loaded shuttle car that was traveling to the dump point. 

Best Practices: 

•    Install proximity detection systems on mobile equipment to protect personnel and eliminate accidents of this type.
•    Be aware of your location in relation to movement of equipment, especially in lower seams.
•    Sound audible warnings, distinguishable from surrounding noise, and reduce speed when approaching and before traveling through check curtains.  Wear reflective clothing or strobe lights to aid visibility when working around mobile equipment.
•    Assure all personnel are clear of the traveling path and turning radius before moving equipment.
•    Train miners and equipment operators to communicate their location and wait for acknowledgement before moving.Additional Information: 

This is the fourteenth fatality reported in 2021, and the seventh fatality classified as “Powered Haulage.”  (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)

Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).