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Fatality #19 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2013

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ftl2013m19On December 4, 2013, a 63-year old lead man with 16 years of experience was killed at a crushed stone mine. The victim initiated a blast and was struck by flyrock from the blast. He was standing 153 feet from the nearest blast hole and was struck by rock as large as 19 inches long by 14 inches wide by 7 inches thick.

 

Best Practices

 

  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures before beginning work. Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed and the methods to properly protect persons. Task train all persons in safe work procedures.
  • Maintain and use all available methods of communication, such as sirens and radios, to warn persons of an impending blast. Establish methods to ensure that all persons are out of the blasting area.
  • Guard or barricade all access routes to the blasting area to prevent the passage of persons or vehicles.
  • Before firing a blast, give ample warning to allow all persons to be evacuated.
  • Clear and remove all persons from the blasting area unless suitable blasting shelters are provided to protect persons from flyrock.
  • Verify that the blasting procedures are effective and being followed at all times.

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

Fatality #18 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2013

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ftl2013m18On November 18, 2013, a 33-year old contract electrician foreman with 14 years of experience was injured at a crushed stone mine. The victim was working in a 480-volt electrical enclosure, pulling cable for a new pump that was being installed, when he contacted energized conductors. He was transported to a hospital where he died on November 22, 2013.

Best Practices

  • Ensure that persons are trained on all electrical tests and safety equipment necessary to safely test and ground the circuit where work is to be performed.
  • Positively identify the circuit on which work is to be conducted.
  • De-energize power and ensure that the circuit is visibly open for circuits being worked on and circuits near the work area.
  • Lock and Tag! Place YOUR lock and tag on the disconnecting device.
  • Use properly rated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including Arc Flash Protection such as a hood, gloves, shirt, and pants.
  • Ensure ALL electrical components in the enclosure are de-energized by testing for voltage using properly rated test equipment.
  • Install warning labels on the terminal covers of bottom feed circuit breakers warning that “Bottom terminal lugs remain energized when the circuit breaker is open.”

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

Fatality #15 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2013

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ftl2013m15On November 7, 2013, a 46-year old equipment operator with 27 years of experience was killed at a granite mine. The victim was operating a haul truck when it veered off the left side of a haul road and traveled through a berm. The haul truck went over an embankment and overturned in a settling pond.

Best Practices

  • Provide and maintain adequate berms or guardrails on the banks of roadways where a drop-off exists.
  • Conduct pre-operational checks to identify and correct any defects that may affect the safe operation 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.
  • Stay alert while operating mobile equipment.
  • Ensure traffic rules, signals, and warning signs are posted and obeyed.

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

Fatality #14 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2013

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ftl2013m14On October 17, 2013, a 52-year old electrician with 5 years of experience was injured at a cement operation. The victim was standing on a step ladder, pulling cable in a cable tray. The mounting bracket for the tray broke loose from the wall and the tray struck the step ladder. The victim fell 5 feet from the ladder, striking his head on the concrete floor. The victim was transported to a hospital where he died on October 19, 2013.

Best Practices
 

  • Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations when installing a cable tray on a supporting structure.
  • Ensure that the correct anchors are used and that the supporting structures are adequate when installing a cable tray.
  • Always be aware of your surroundings and any hazards that may be present.
  • Properly position ladders used to reach elevated areas.

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

Fatality #17 for Coal Mining 2013

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ftl2013c17On Sunday, October 6, 2013, at approximately 2:30 a.m., a 44-year old bulldozer operator, with approximately 10 years of experience, sustained fatal injuries when the dozer he was operating went over the edge of a highwall.

Best Practices

  • Task train miners adequately on the equipment they will operate.
  • Train all employees on safe work procedures, hazard recognition, and hazard avoidance.
  • Maintain a safe distance from the edge of the highwall.
  • Ensure adequate berms are in place.
  • Be familiar with your work environment. Before beginning work, look at the area, walk around it, and plan the safest way to move the material and maneuver the equipment.
  • Ensure illumination is adequate when work is performed during non-daylight hours.
  • Maintain control of equipment at all times during operation.
  • Ensure that personnel operating mobile equipment always wear a seat belt.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #13 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2013

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ftl2013m13On September 19, 2013, a 32-year old laborer with 14 years of experience was killed at a dimension stone operation. The victim was operating a 2½ ton truck up a steep roadway. He was hauling water tanks in the bed of the truck when the load shifted and the truck overturned, crushing him.

Best Practices

  • Task train mobile equipment operators adequately and ensure they demonstrate proficiency in all phases of mobile equipment operation before performing work.
  • Conduct adequate pre-operational checks prior to operating mobile equipment.
  • Ensure that loads are stable and secured before transporting.
  • Never exceed equipment manufacturer’s load limits.
  • 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), MSHA Investigation Report (pdf), Overview (powerpoint), Overview (pdf).

Fatality #12 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2013

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ftl2013m12On September 18, 2013, a 56-year old front-end loader operator with 16 years of experience was killed at a crushed stone operation. The victim was attempting to remove a rock from a pug mill hopper when he was engulfed by the material in the hopper.

Best Practices

  • Establish and discuss policies and procedures for safely clearing a hopper.
  • Equip hoppers with mechanical devices or other effective means of handling material so persons are not required to work where they are exposed to entrapment by sliding material.
  • Install a heavy screen (grizzly) to control the size of material and prevent clogging.
  • Task train persons to recognize all potential hazardous conditions and to understand safe job procedures for elimination of the hazards before beginning work.
  • Before working on or near equipment, ensure that the discharge operating controls are deenergized and locked out.
  • Wear a safety harness and lanyard, which is securely anchored and tended by another person, prior to entering bins, hoppers, tanks, or silos.

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

Fatality #11 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2013

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ftl2013m11On September 16, 2013, a 58-year old truck driver with 25 years of experience was killed at a crushed stone operation. The victim was driving a loaded haul truck out of a quarry when the truck traveled through a berm and over an 80-foot highwall. The victim was ejected from the truck.

Best Practices

  • Provide and maintain adequate berms or guardrails on the banks of roadways where a drop-off exists.
  • Conduct adequate pre-operational checks 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.
  • Do not exit or jump from moving mobile equipment.

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

Fatality #14 for Coal Mining 2013

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ftl2013c14On July 3, 2013, an 87-year-old contract employee was mowing an impoundment embankment with a skid steer machine equipped with a front-mounted brush mower. The victim was mowing the 40 degree embankment in a vertical direction when the machine traveled into the impounded water, submerging the machine, and drowning the operator.

Best Practices

  • Conduct a risk assessment prior to performing work and ensure that miners use proper equipment, tools, and procedures to eliminate hazards.
  • Provide hazard training to all personnel working on or near an impoundment for recognition of hazards associated with the impoundment.
  • Set up a communications protocol when persons are working alone.
  • Wear properly fitted personal floatation devices (PFD) when working around bodies of water.
  • Never assume an employee is knowledgeable in the task they are being assigned.

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

Fatality #13 for Coal Mining 2013

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ftl2013c13On Friday, August 16, 2013, a 24-year-old utility person with nearly 3 years of mining experience was killed when the Ford F350 utility pickup truck he was driving was crushed by a P&H 2800 electric shovel. A bulldozer and two pickup trucks were following the shovel while traveling up a grade (approximately 9%). The shovel rolled backward down the grade and hit the bulldozer and the two trucks. The driver of the first truck was killed, and the driver of the second truck sustained injuries and was transported to the hospital.

Best Practices

  • Ensure the grade is within equipment capabilities and equipment braking and steering systems function as designed.
  • Establish procedures that require smaller vehicles to maintain a safe distance from large mobile equipment. Provide training in those procedures.
  • Use clear communication at all times. Utilize radios to communicate when visual contact cannot be maintained.
  • Ensure road widths are sufficient for equipment movement.
  • Designate specific roadways or provide alternate routes for light duty vehicles in high activity or congested areas.
  • Ensure sufficient clearance is available for equipment movement.

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