Underground

MNM Fatality 12/13/21 Underground

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On December 13, 2021, a miner was fatally injured when he became entangled in the drill steel of the roof bolting machine he was operating.

Best Practices: 

  • Before performing maintenance and repair work on roof bolting machines or other equipment:
    • Turn off the engine.
    • Securely block equipment against hazardous motion by following manufacturer’s recommendations.
  • Never touch or hold the drill steel while it is rotating.
  • Do not wear loose-fitting or bulky clothing when working around any machinery with rotating parts.
  • Train miners to perform their assigned tasks safely.

Additional Information: 

This is the 36th fatality reported in 2021, and the seventh classified as “Machinery.”

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

Coal Fatality – 12/4/21

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On December 4, 2021, a miner was performing maintenance duties on a continuous mining machine (CMM) when the raised CMM tail boom lowered, resulting in fatal crushing injuries to the miner.

Best Practices: 

  • Before performing maintenance and repair work:
    • De-energize the power source.
    • Open the visual disconnect.
    • Lock and tag the visual disconnect.
    • Securely block equipment against hazardous motion in accordance with manufacturer’s recommendations.
  • Provide sufficient space around equipment to perform work safely.
  • Develop and implement procedures to complete tasks safely.
  • Train all miners to perform their assigned tasks safely.
  • Operators should implement procedures to address hazards that cause injury.

Additional Information: 

This is the 34th fatality reported in 2021, and the sixth classified as “Machinery.”

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

Coal Fatality – 11/1/21

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On November 1, 2021, an electrician with 25 years of mining experience was fatally injured at a mine with 334 employees* while traveling down a mine slope.  He lost control of a four-passenger rubber-tired personnel carrier, and the vehicle crashed at the bottom of the slope, pinning the victim underneath.

Best Practices: 

  • Immediately remove equipment from service when defects affecting safety are found.
  • Conduct adequate preoperational checks and weekly examinations of mobile electrical equipment.  Correct any defects affecting safety before operating mobile equipment.
  • Maintain control and stay alert when operating mobile equipment.
  • Maintain roadways free of excessive water, mud, and other conditions that impact an equipment operator’s ability to control mobile equipment.
  • Operate mobile equipment at speeds consistent with the conditions of roadways, grades, clearance, and visibility.
  • Never rely on Regenerative Braking as a substitute for keeping brakes properly maintained.

Additional Information: 

This is the 31st fatality reported in 2021, and the 12th classified as “Powered Haulage” (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)

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

Coal Fatality – 10/19/21

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On October 19, 2021, a 58-year-old mechanic with 17 years of experience was fatally injured when the articulated haul truck bed collapsed on him while he performed maintenance on the truck on the surface at an underground mine Ohio with 10 employees*.

Best Practices: 

  • Securely block from motion machinery or equipment that has been raised, and properly use mechanical blocking devices.  Ensure that blocking material is competent, substantial, and adequate to support and stabilize the load.
  • Position yourself in a safe location and away from potential “red-zone” areas where you can be injured.  Observe and follow all warning labels and signs on equipment.
  • Never work under a load that is unsupported or inadequately supported, and never depend on hydraulics to support a load.
  • Outfit haul trucks with a dump box lock bar that mechanically blocks the bed from coming down.
  • Develop and follow safe work procedures.
  • Always consult and follow the manufacturer’s recommended safe work procedures for the maintenance task.

Additional Information: 

This is the 29th fatality reported in 2021, and the 3rd classified as “Falling, Rolling or Sliding Rock/Material.” (*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 – 7/13/21

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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).

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).

Coal Fatality – 6/2/21

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On June 2, 2021, a 26-year-old section foreman with five years of mining experience at an underground mine with 462 employees* was pinned against a continuous mining machine by a piece of rib. The piece fell while he was installing a rib bolt with the machine mounted rib drill.

Best Practices: 

  • Support loose roof and rib material adequately or scale loose material from a safe location before working or traveling in an area.
  • Examine the roof, face and ribs immediately before starting work in an area and throughout the shift as conditions warrant.
  • Take additional safety precautions when mining heights increase and in areas where mine conditions change.
  • Train miners to recognize roof and rib hazards and to stop work in the area until the hazards are corrected.

Additional Information: 

This is the 13th fatality reported in 2021, and the first classified as “Fall of Face, Rib, Side or Highwall” (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)

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

MNM Fatality – 5/18/21

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On May 18, 2021, a telehandler at an underground mine with 113 employees and 7 contract employees* was towing a trailer with a diesel pump onboard up an inclined underground roadway when the tow hitch suddenly broke. The trailer rolled down the roadway, striking and fatally injuring a 35 year old* contract laborer with 1 year experience*.

Best Practices: 

  • Use towing hardware (hitches, tow bars, receivers, couplers, pins, pintles, safety chains/cables, etc.) which is properly designed and rated. Before each use, examine towing hardware for wear, cracks and other damage. 
  • Never exceed the recommended maximum towing capacity of a tow vehicle or trailer. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations and only use equipment designed for towing.
  • Always use properly sized safety chains in conjunction with hitches. Safety chains keep the trailer connected to the tow vehicle in case the other tow hardware fails.
  • Never position yourself directly behind equipment being towed uphill.
  • Establish procedures for safe and proper towing. Train miners to follow these procedures and identify hazards associated with towing.

Additional Information: 

This is the 12th fatality reported in 2021, and the third classified as “Machinery.” (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)

Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), final report (pdf).