On August 18, 2020, a miner (21 year-old laborer in California with one year and twelve weeks of experience*) was killed while attempting to clear a material blockage (at a sand and gravel mine with 20 employees*). The miner entered the cone crusher to begin work when the material shifted and engulfed him. He was extracted from the crusher and taken to a hospital, where he died the next day.
Best Practices:
- Properly design chutes and crushers to prevent blockages. Install a heavy screen (grizzly) to control the size of material and prevent clogging.
- Equip chutes with mechanical devices such as vibrating shakers or air cannons to loosen blockages, or provide other effective means of handling material, so miners are not exposed to entrapment hazards by falling or sliding material.
- Establish and discuss policies and procedures for safely clearing crushers.
- Train miners to recognize and safely remove all potential hazards before beginning work and when clearing blocked crushers.
Additional Information:
This is the 13th fatality reported in 2020, and the second classified as “Fall of Material.” – * (Italicized details added by safeminers.com)
Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).
On September 20, 2017, a contractor was fatally injured while rappelling within a conditioning tower. The victim was examining the inside of a 300’ vertical conditioning tower when an object fell from above and struck him in the head. The victim was conscious and transported to a local hospital where he died of his injuries the next day.
On August 3, 2017, a 32-year-old miner with 6 years of mining experience was fatally crushed while he was cutting one end of a metal beam. He was dismantling a metal structure at a preparation plant when the beam fell on him.
On July 20, 2017, a miner was driving wedges into a block of granite in an attempt to break it loose. A piece of granite weighing 9 tons fell and crushed the victim against the quarry floor.
On March 14, 2017, an independent owner/operator truck driver, walked behind his raised end-dump trailer, while dumping his load and was engulfed by sand.
On December 19, 2016, a 62-year old Front-end Loader Operator with 6 years of mining experience was fatally injured at a sand and gravel surface mine. The victim was engulfed by sand when entered a hopper to remove a blockage.
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.