Mining Fatalities

MNM Fatality – 10/19/20

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On October 19, 2020, (at a Littleton, CO mine with 2 employees*) an excavator’s bucket struck a plant operator (58 years old with 8 weeks of experience*) who was standing on the cross beam of a grizzly hopper screen.

Best Practices: 

•   Never swing buckets over work areas or operator’s compartments.
•   Maintain communication between equipment operators and miners on the ground.
•   Maintain control of equipment while it is in operation.
•   Train miners to safely perform their tasks.Additional Information: 

This is the 22nd fatality reported in 2020, and the seventh classified as “Machinery.” (* Italicized details added by safeminers.com)

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

MNM Fatality – 8/21/20

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On August 21, 2020, a (customer*) truck driver (at a Gilmore City, IA mine with 32 employees*) sustained fatal head injuries while he was deploying the automatic tarp on his fifth-wheel side-dump trailer.

Best Practices: 

  • Install and use constant pressure electrical switches to deploy/retract automatic trailer tarps.
  • Inspect and maintain tarping systems routinely to ensure tarping systems function properly.
  • Install signs warning of the hazard of standing near trailers while automatic tarps are deployed/retracted.
  • Train miners on proper tarping techniques to understand the hazards associated with the work being performed.

Additional Information: 

This is the sixth fatality classified as “Machinery” in 2020. (Fatal Alert posted by MSHA 11/30/20.* Italicized details added by safeminers.com)

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

MNM Fatality – 10/14/20

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On October 14, 2020 (at a South Carolina mine with 49 employees*), a lead person (61 years old with 17 years experience*) was killed when his pickup truck was struck by a haul truck.

Best Practices: 

  • Install and maintain collision avoidance/warning systems.
  • Equip smaller vehicles with strobe lights and flags positioned high enough to be seen from the cabs of haulage trucks in all lighting conditions.
  • Establish and follow communication protocols that require verbal verification for all mobile equipment operators.
  • Design haul roads to minimize congested areas and maximize visibility.
  • Do not drive smaller vehicles in a large truck’s potential path.
  • Train miners on mobile traffic patterns and policies. Do not rely on training or other administrative controls alone to prevent powered haulage or other accidents.

Additional Information: 

This is the 20th fatality reported in 2020 and the fifth classified as “Powered Haulage.” (Italicized details added by safeminers.com)

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

Coal Fatality – 10/13/20

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On October 13, 2020, a miner died after being struck by a battery-powered scoop. He had parked his shuttle car in an intersection and was exiting when a scoop went through a ventilation curtain in an adjacent crosscut and struck him.

Best Practices: 

  • Install and maintain proximity detection systems on mobile section equipment.
  • Use transparent curtains for ventilation controls on working sections.
  • Communicate your presence and intended movements. Wait until miners acknowledge your message before moving your equipment.
  • STOP and SOUND an audible warning device before tramming equipment through ventilation curtains.
  • Avoid areas where equipment operators cannot readily see you.
  • Wear personal strobe light devices to increase visibility.

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

Coal Fatality – 10/9/20

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On October 9, 2020, a contractor was changing the nozzle on a hydroseeder and accidentally engaged the hydroseeder’s clutch while the nozzle was pointing towards him.  The material sprayed from the nozzle struck him, causing him to fall backward and strike his neck on the hydroseeder handrail.

Best Practices: 

  • De-energize equipment while changing accessories until the equipment is ready to use and the operator is properly positioned.
  • Position yourself to avoid hazards resulting from a sudden release of energy.
  • Identify and apply methods to protect personnel from hazards associated with the work being performed. This includes all applicable personal protective equipment for identified hazards.
  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures before beginning work and ensure those procedures are followed.

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

Confined Space Safety Alert

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Between 2017 and 2020, three miners were fatally injured after entering confined spaces to clear material and obstructions. These confined spaces included a sand and gravel bin, a sand-filled hopper, and a cone crusher. All three miners were engulfed by falling material.

Best Practices: 

  • Operators should identify and eliminate or control all hazards before miners begin work and when clearing blocked material. Miners should be trained in these practices.
  • Lock-out, tag-out. Never enter a confined space until the supply and discharge equipment is locked out.
  • Never lock-out using the start and stop controls. These do not disconnect power conductors.
  • Assign a safety harness and lanyard to each miner who may work at material supply and discharge areas or any areas where an engulfment hazard exists. Do not use lanyards that depend on free-fall speed to lock.
  • Place warning signs:
    • “Fall Protection Required Here”
    • “Confined Space – Engulfment Hazard” warning signs at all access points to hoppers, bins, and chutes.

Click here for: MSHA Confined Space Safety Alert (pdf); Safeminers EZ Compliance Helper: MSHA on Confined Spaces (pdf).

MNM Fatality – 9/16/20

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On September 16, 2020 (at a New Jersey mine with 9 miners and 3 contractors on site*), a truck driver (37 years old with 20 years experience*) attempted to adjust the brakes on his tri-axle truck while the engine was running, the automatic transmission was in drive and the parking brake was not set. The truck moved forward and fatally injured the victim.

Best Practices: 

  • Before exiting, place the transmission in park, set the parking brake, turn off the engine and activate the hazard warning lights.
  • Block equipment against motion and place high visibility cones or other flagging or signage to caution oncoming traffic before working on equipment.
  • Maintain equipment braking systems and repair and adjustment as necessary.
  • Conduct pre-operational examinations using qualified personnel to identify and repair defects that may affect the safe operation of equipment before it is placed into service.
  • Train miners on site-specific hazards.

Additional Information: 

This is the 17th fatality reported in 2020, and the third classified as “Powered Haulage.” (Italicized details added by safeminers.com)

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

MNM Fatality – 8/26/20

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On August 26, 2020, two miners were preparing a mobile track mounted jaw crusher for shipping off-site (at a Washington mine with 2 employees*). The crusher was missing the upper wrist pin from the hydraulic cylinder that raises and lowers the right hopper extension. The right hopper extension was secured in place by wedges. The victim was removing wedges, and when a wedge was removed, the extension fell, crushing the victim (a 52 year-old crusher foreman with 23 years and 4 weeks experience*).

Best Practices: 

  • Block equipment against hazardous motion before dismantling equipment.
  • Follow manufacturers’ recommendations when dismantling equipment.
  • Conduct adequate workplace examinations and correct any defects affecting safety before dismantling equipment.
  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures before beginning work.
  • Stay clear of suspended loads and raised equipment.
  • Position yourself in a safe location and away from potential “red-zone” areas.
  • Use ladders or other means of safe access to perform maintenance.
  • Train miners to recognize potential hazardous conditions and understand safe job procedures.

Additional Information: 

This is the 14th fatality reported in 2020, and the fourth classified as “Machinery.” *(Italicized details added by safeminers.com)

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

MNM Fatality – 5/21/20

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On May 21, 2020, two miners were working to hoist an electric motor from its base by anchoring a hoist to an overhead, unsecured steel pipe (at Missouri underground limestone mine with 51 employees*). The steel pipe slid out of place and struck one of the miners (60 year-old plant maintenance worker with 27 years and 9 weeks total mining experience*) in the head and back. The miner died on May 23, 2020, due to complications from his injuries.

Best Practices: 

  • Ensure load anchor locations are stable, substantial and adequate to support the load.
  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures before beginning work and ensure those procedures are followed.
  • Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed and the methods to properly protect persons.
  • Follow the manufacturer’s recommended safe work procedures for the maintenance task.
  • Examine work areas for hazards that may be created as a result of the work being performed.
  • Position yourself in areas where you will not be exposed to hazards resulting from a sudden release of energy. Be aware of your location in relation to machine parts that can move.

Additional Information: 

This is the first fatality in 2020 classified as “Hand Tools.” *(Italicized details added by safeminers.com)

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

MNM Fatality – 9/1/20

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On September 1, 2020, a miner (53 year-old plant helper in Texas with 2 years and 8 weeks of experience*) died when he fell while attempting to close a hatch on the top of a bulk material trailer (at an industrial sand plant with 20 employees). The miner was wearing a fall protection harness but his lanyard was not attached to a secure anchorage.

Best Practices: 

  • Encourage the use of automated hatches on tanks and trailers.
  • Provide and ensure the use of an effective fall arrest and secure anchorage system.
  • Provide safe access to all work areas and ensure truck and trailer access and work platforms are properly designed, maintained, and used.
  • Examine work areas and equipment. Don’t use unsafe work areas and equipment until repairs are made.
  • Refresh miner training on safe work procedures after returning from periods of shutdown, and routinely monitor work habits.

Additional Information: 

This is the 15th fatality reported in 2020, and the fourth classified as “Slip or Fall of Person.” *(Italicized details added by safeminers.com)

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