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Fatality #1 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2015

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1On January 8, 2015, a 63-year old sales manager with 11 years of experience was killed at a sand and gravel mine. He was installing new screen panels in the B tower screen. The feeder box pivoted, pinning him between the box and the rear support beam of the screen deck.

Best Practices

  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures. Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed along with the methods to properly protect persons.
  • Always follow the equipment manufacturer’s recommended maintenance procedures when conducting repairs to machinery.
  • Task train all persons to recognize all potential hazardous conditions and understand safe job procedures to eliminate all hazards before beginning work.
  • Securely block equipment and components against hazardous motion at all times while performing work.
  • Ensure that blocking material is competent, substantial, and adequate to support the load.
  • Require all persons to be positioned to prevent them from being exposed to any hazards.  Do not work in pinch points where inadvertent movement could cause injury.
  • Monitor all persons to ensure safe work procedures, including safe work positioning, are followed.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), MSHA Investigation Report (pdf), Overview (powerpoint), Overview (pdf).

Fatality #25 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m25On November 10, 2014, a 45-year old crusher operator with 3 years of experience was seriously injured at a granite mine. The miner was using a torch to cut a drill bit that was wedged in a jaw crusher when the bit freed and struck him. The victim was hospitalized and died on January 17, 2015, as a result of his injuries.

Best Practices

  • Task train miners to identify and control all hazards associated with their work.
  • Establish and discuss policies and procedures for safely clearing a jaw crusher.
  • Implement measures to ensure miners are positioned safely and protected from hazards while performing a task.
  • Consider a mechanical method for clearing material to minimize exposure.
  • Before working on or near equipment, deenergize the power and lock out/tag out.
  • Securely block equipment against hazardous motion to ensure energy cannot be released.
  • Provide a safe means of access for miners required to maintain a jaw crusher.
  • Provide guards, shields, or other devices to protect miners from flying or falling materials at screens, crushers, or conveyors.
  • Install equipment to detect and prevent metal from entering a crusher.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #24 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m24On December 29, 2014, a 21-year-old warehouse bagger with 1 week of experience was killed at a clay mine. The victim was operating a forklift, hauling a bag of dust, when the forklift overturned.

Best Practices

  • Indoctrinate new employees in safety rules and safe work procedures.
  • Task train mobile equipment operators adequately in all phases of mobile equipment operation before operating mobile equipment.
  • Monitor new miners routinely to determine that safe work procedures are followed.
  • Conduct adequate pre-operational checks and correct any defects affecting safety in a timely manner prior to operating mobile equipment.
  • Ensure the load being transported is within the weight capacity of the machine and within the reach limits for stable operation.
  • Ensure the load being transported is secured to prevent shifting.
  • Always wear a seat belt when operating self-propelled mobile equipment.
  • Maintain control of self-propelled mobile equipment while it is in motion.
  • Operate mobile equipment at speeds consistent with the conditions of roadways, tracks, grades, clearance, visibility, curves, and traffic.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #23 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m23On December 1, 2014, a 46-year-old contract truck driver with 26 years of experience was killed at a limestone mine.  The articulating haul truck he was operating traveled over a roadway berm and went into a large pond.  Dive teams extricated the victim from the truck.

Best Practices

  • Task train mobile equipment operators adequately in all phases of mobile equipment operation before operating mobile equipment.
  • Conduct adequate pre-operational checks and correct any defects affecting safety in a timely manner prior to operating mobile equipment.
  • Always wear a seat belt when operating self-propelled mobile equipment.
  • Maintain control of self-propelled mobile equipment while it is in motion.
  • Operate mobile equipment at speeds consistent with the conditions of roadways, tracks, grades, clearance, visibility, curves, and traffic.
  • Provide and maintain adequate berms or guardrails on the banks of roadways where a drop-off exists.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #22 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m22On November 25, 2014, a 67-year-old truck driver with 10½ years of experience was killed at a sandstone mine.  The victim backed a haul truck to the edge of the overburden dumpsite and started to raise the truck’s bed to dump a load of material.  The bank failed, causing the truck to overturn and fall 30 feet below. The victim died en route to the hospital.

Best Practices

  • Task train all persons to understand safe job procedures.
  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures before beginning work.
  • Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed.
  • Conduct adequate pre-operational checks prior to operating mobile equipment.
  • Always wear a seat belt when operating self-propelled mobile equipment.
  • Examine dumping locations for stability prior to dumping the first load and as ground conditions warrant during the work shift.  Where trucks are loaded out of the stockpile or ground conditions may fail to support the weight of the truck, dump loads a safe distance back from the edge.
  • Maintain berms or similar impeding devices at dumping locations where there is a hazard of overtravel or overturning.
  • Travel in a straight line when backing a truck toward a dump location.  Do not approach on a turn.
  • Monitor persons routinely to determine safe work procedures are followed.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #21 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m21On November 18, 2014, a 42-year-old contract supervisor with 19½ years of experience was killed at an alumina operation.  A crane was lifting a 2,500 pound door to be installed on a filtrate tank.  The welded lifting eye on the door broke loose and the door fell, pinning the victim on the concrete floor.

Best Practices

  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures before beginning work.
  • Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed.
  • Task train all persons to understand safe job procedures and to stay clear of suspended loads.
  • Use welded lifting eyes that are specifically intended for lifting and adequately rated for the loads being lifted.
  • Use certified welders and good quality welds when attaching lifting eyes or lugs.
  • Ensure the weld metal is compatible with the base metal of the connecting components and thoroughly clean any rust or scale from a surface prior to welding.
  • Carefully inspect all rigging prior to each use.
  • Attach taglines to loads that may need steadied or to be guided while suspended.
  • Avoid extreme side loading on a lifting eye or lug unless it is designed to handle such loading.
  • Monitor persons routinely to determine safe work procedures are followed.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #20 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m20aOn October 10, 2014, a 66-year-old contract truck driver with approximately 11 years of experience was killed at a cement operation.  The driver was inside a loading rack closing the hatch on top of a bulk tanker truck.  When the victim raised the rack to access the hatch, he fell between the rack and rounded side of the truck and then fell to the ground.

Best Practices

  • Establish traffic patterns to ensure safe alignment of vehicles with access equipment.
  • Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed and use methods to properly protect persons.
  • Ensure that persons are trained, including task-training, to address the hazards associated with the work being performed.
  • Always use fall protection when working where a fall hazard exists.
  • Always be aware of your surroundings and any hazards that may be present.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #13 for Coal Mining 2014

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FTL14c13aOn Saturday, October 18, 2014, at approximately 10:05 p.m., a contractor truck driver with over 5 years of truck driving experience was killed while operating a rock truck. The driver was removing top soil ahead of the East Elk Pit when he drove off a highwall and fell approximately 240 feet.

Best Practices
  • Operate equipment in a manner that is consistent with conditions of roadways, grades, clearance, visibility, traffic, and the type of equipment used.
  • Standardize and post traffic rules, signals, and warning signs.
  • Provide and maintain adequate berms and other barriers that are at least mid-axle high on the banks of roadways where a drop off exists.
  • Train all employees on the equipment they operate, on safe job procedures, hazard recognition, and on hazard avoidance.
  • Maintain control of equipment at all times during operation.  Know the truck’s capabilities, operating ranges, load-limits, and safety features.
  • Monitor work activities and examine work areas to assure safe work practices are followed.
  • Monitor contract employees adequately at all job sites to ensure that safe work procedures are being followed.
  • Conduct pre-operational checks to identify and repair any defects that may affect the safe operation of equipment before it is placed into service.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #18 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m18On August 25, 2014, a 54-year-old truck driver with 1 year of experience was killed at a limestone mine.  The victim went to a storage building to get some wooden planks.  He climbed a stack of loaded pallets to get to the planks that were near the rafters and fell approximately 8 feet to the ground below.  The next day two coworkers arrived at the mine and found the victim at approximately 6:05 a.m.

Best Practices

  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures before beginning work. Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed and use methods to properly protect persons.
  • Ensure that persons are trained, including task-training, to understand the hazards associated with the work being performed.
  • Develop a plan to store supplies and other items in an accessible way to ensure ease of retrieval and transportation.
  • Always be aware of your surroundings and any hazards that may be present.
  • Provide and maintain a safe means of access to all working places.  Always work from a stable position.
  • Do not assign a person to work alone in areas where hazardous conditions exist that would endanger his or her safety.
  • Account for all persons at the end of each shift.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)