On December 29, 2018, a 25-year old dredge operator, with 21 weeks of experience, was fatally injured at a coal mine. The victim drowned when the dredge he was operating sank.
Best Practices:
- Task train all persons to recognize all potential hazardous conditions and ensure they understand safe job procedures for elimination of the hazards before beginning work.
- Examine work areas and equipment during the shift for hazards that may be created as a result of the work being performed.
- Conduct a risk analysis before starting non-routine tasks to ensure that all hazards are evaluated and eliminated.
- Establish procedures requiring persons to alert coworkers when they are in danger.
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).
On Friday, December 29, 2017, at approximately 12:57 a.m., a 34-year-old bulldozer operator with 10 years of mining experience was fatally injured. While pushing overburden toward the edge of a highwall, the bulldozer he was operating travelled over the edge, down an embankment, and came to rest approximately 400 feet from where it went over the highwall.
On October 17, 2017, a miner was fatally injured while operating a bulldozer on a downward slope. While pushing overburden to a rock bench below the top of the pit, he was ejected from the cab and run over by the left track. The machine continued to tram over the edge of the 58′ highwall.
On July 25, 2017, a 28-year-old bulldozer operator with 1 year and 9 months of mining experience was fatally injured at a surface facility. The victim was operating a bulldozer, pushing material off of a refuse bank before the accident occurred. He was found lying in the bulldozer’s push path at the top of an incline near the edge of the refuse bank. The bulldozer had run over the victim and continued over the edge of the incline, coming to rest at the bottom of the embankment.
On Tuesday, June 13, 2017, a 32-year-old continuous mining machine operator was fatally injured when he was pinned between the cutter head of a remote controlled continuous mining machine and the coal rib. The victim was backing the continuous mining machine from the working face when the accident occurred.
On December 2, 2016, a technical representative for a shield manufacturer, with 13 years of experience, received fatal injuries while adding components to the hydraulic system of a longwall shield. The victim was positioned inside the shield near the hinge point when the shield collapsed and crushed him.
On October 9, 2016, a 61 year old Equipment Operator, with 3 years of experience, was fatally injured at a sand surface mine. The victim was attempting to attach a screen plant to a front-end loader by hooking them together with a steel cable when the equipment moved pinning the victim. The victim was later discovered injured and leaning against the loader bucket. The victim died of his injuries the following day.
On September 21, 2016, a 52 year old contract drill operator / mechanic, with more than 30 years of experience, was killed at a limestone mine while performing maintenance on a truck-mounted rotary drill. At the time of the accident, the victim was attempting to remove the spindle cap from the top of the drill head while standing on the drilling deck. The victim was using a modified pipe wrench in an attempt to loosen the spindle cap using the machine’s drill rotation hydraulics by reaching into the operator’s compartment. As the victim activated the drill rotation lever, the wrench swung and struck him. The force of the impact knocked him against the operator’s cab, denting the frame and breaking the side window while the rotating wrench pierced his abdomen. As the victim attempted to climb down an adjacent step ladder, he was observed falling to the ground and striking his head. The victim was transported to a local hospital and died later that day as a result of his injuries.