On March 22, 2016, a 42-year old lead man with 6 years of mining experience was fatally injured at a surface limestone mine when he was struck by fly rock from blasting operations. The lead man was parked in his pickup truck at a location to prevent others from accessing the blasting site. He was approximately 1,200 feet from the blast area.
Best Practices
- Review and follow site specific blast plan prior to loading any explosives.
- Utilize technology, such as face profilers and borehole probes, to obtain specific geometric details of the material to be blasted.
- Adjust stemming depth and/or decking to maintain adequate burden on all sections of the blast hole.
- Develop a drill pattern by considering geology, face geometry, and surface topography.
- Clear and remove all persons from the blast area unless suitable blasting shelters are provided to protect persons from flyrock. Allow at least 15 seconds after a blast for any flyrock to drop.
- Examine blast site geology, communicate with the driller and review the drill log for angles, voids, competency of rock, loss of air, etc., prior to the loading any explosives. Make appropriate adjustments to ensure that the holes are not overloaded.
- Ensure blasting and fly rock areas are properly calculated to ensure the blast site is clear of all persons.
- Determine the actual burden for all face holes along their length and adjust the explosive power factor along the borehole accordingly.
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), MSHA Investigation Report (pdf), Overview (pdf).
On March 8, 2016, a 54-year old miner with 5 years of mining experience was killed at a surface sand and gravel operation. The miner backed his haul truck over a dump site and the driver was found at the bottom of the embankment, 60 feet below. The victim was found unresponsive and partially submerged in water. CPR was attempted, but the victim was not able to be resuscitated.
On February 26, 2016, a truck driver delivering multiple sections of polyurethane pipe was struck by a section of pipe during the unloading process. A forklift removed two sections of pipe from the passenger side of the truck, and then left the area with the two sections. While the forklift was away, a single, unsecured section of pipe rolled off on the driver’s side of the truck and struck the victim. Each section of pipe was approximately 50’ long and weighed approximately 1,750 pounds. Miners began first aid but the driver was unresponsive. He was transported to the local hospital and later died.
On December 28, 2015, a 42-year old miner with 3 years of experience was killed at a surface gold mine. The operator of a loaded haul truck was attempting to have his truck climb a snow covered access road when his truck slid backwards striking the cab of the victim’s loaded haul truck, which was also recovering from sliding backwards down the same access road. Several minutes later, a third loaded haul truck also slid down backwards while attempting to climb the access road, colliding with the other wrecked haul trucks.
On December 15, 2015, a 75-year old tow truck laborer was killed at a cement plant. As the tow truck operator was lowering the truck’s boom it struck the victim. The victim suffered a severe head wound but was conscious when transported to a local hospital but later died of his injuries.
