On October 31, 2017, a 340-ton haul truck ran over a passenger van carrying nine miners. The driver of the van and the miner in the front seat were fatally injured. Of the remaining seven miners, one suffered a non-life threatening injury.
Best Practices
- When approaching large mobile equipment, do not proceed until you communicate and verify with the equipment operator your planned movement and location. Provide radio communication systems between vehicles and large mobile equipment.
- Ensure, by signal or other means, that all persons are clear before moving equipment.
- Minimize situations where smaller vehicles need to approach large haul trucks (e.g., arrange for haul truck drivers to have supplies available at the pre-shift meeting place, rather than delivering supplies to the truck).
- Do not drive or park smaller vehicles in a large truck’s potential path of movement.
- Equip smaller vehicles with flags or strobe lights positioned high enough to be seen from the cabs of haulage trucks.
- Install and maintain proximity detection or collision avoidance/warning systems and cameras.
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).
On Monday, October 23, 2017, a 48-year-old mine examiner with 19 years of mining experience, received fatal injuries after he fell on the No. 1 conveyor belt near the transfer point with the No. 2 conveyor belt and was transported by the belt conveyor system to the raw coal pile. It appears he was attempting to cross the No. 1 conveyor belt at the time of the accident.
On September 5, 2017, a 20-year old plant operator with 23 weeks of experience was fatally injured at a sand and gravel mine. The victim was performing maintenance on a belt conveyor when he became entangled in the tail pulley.
On July 27, 2017, a miner was fatally injured when his light-duty truck was run over by a haul truck. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Friday, August 25, 2017, a 51-year-old mine examiner with 27 years of mining experience was killed when, near the transfer point with the No. 2 conveyor belt, he apparently lost his footing attempting to cross over the moving No. 1 conveyor belt. He fell onto the No. 1 belt and hit a belt crossover located approximately 10 feet outby. The victim was found beside the conveyor belt just outside the mine entrance.
On June 8, 2017, a truck driver was operating a Caterpillar 777F haul truck, dumping a load of gravel, when the ground at the dump point collapsed. The truck went over the edge of the dump point, overturning and landing on its roof approximately 30 feet below. The victim was transported to the hospital, where he later died of his injuries.
On March 24, 2017, the victim exited his personal flatbed truck, which was left running in 6th gear, to turn off the genset (diesel generator). Prior to ascending the steps to the diesel generator, it appears the flatbed truck moved forward and pinned him against the genset trailer. The victim was found on Monday, March 27, 2017, and pronounced dead at the scene.
On June 19, 2017, a 32-year-old preshift examiner was fatally injured when he was thrown or jumped from a moving locomotive. Two locomotives (front and rear) were being used to transport three supply cars into the mine. The examiner was riding in the passenger seat of the front locomotive when the operators lost control on a grade and the front locomotive and the first two supply cars derailed.
On Thursday, May 18, 2017, an outby utility miner received fatal injuries when his head hit the mine roof and/or roof support. He and another miner were travelling in a trolley-powered supply locomotive when the accident occurred. While the locomotive was still in motion, the trolley pole came off the trolley wire. The victim grabbed the pole to place it back on the trolley wire. In this slightly elevated position, the victim hit his head on the mine roof and was fatally injured.
On Saturday, May 6, 2017, a 62-year-old miner with 14 years of mining experience was fatally injured when the haul truck he was operating went over the highwall and fell approximately 150 feet. The victim was dumping overburden over the highwall when the accident occurred.