Powered Haulage

Fatality #7 for Coal Mining 2015

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c07On Tuesday, March 17, 2015, a 52-year-old contract truck driver was killed while driving a fuel truck on a mine haulage road.  The tandem axle truck was found on its top near the bottom of a long descending grade which included a sharp curve to the right.  The fuel truck was fully loaded with approximately 3,500 gallons of diesel fuel.  After interviews, investigators could not determine if the victim was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.

Best Practices

  • Always wear your seatbelt while operating mobile equipment.
  • Incorporate engineering controls that require seat belts to be properly fastened before equipment can be put into motion.
  • Monitor employees regularly to ensure seat belts are worn.
  • Maintain full control of equipment at all times while it is in motion.  Take into account weather and road conditions (steep grades, inclement weather, low visibility, etc.).  Ensure work areas are properly illuminated at night.
  • Never exceed a vehicle’s design capabilities, operating ranges, load limits, and safety features.  Always select the proper gear and shift to this lower gear well in advance of descending grades.
  • Maintain equipment braking systems in good repair and adjustment.  Never rely on engine brakes and transmission retarders as substitutes for keeping brakes properly maintained.
  • Conduct thorough pre-operational examinations to identify and repair defects that may affect the safe operation of equipment before it is placed into service.
  • Post conspicuous signs along haulage roads to inform operators of speed limits, approaching grades and curves, and the use of an appropriate gear to maintain a safe speed.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #6 for Coal Mining 2015

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c06On Sunday, May 31, 2015, a 59-year-old mine examiner with 32 years of mining experience was found unconscious, unresponsive, and lying in a travel way.  The victim had been driving a diesel mantrip to travel to a set of seals to examine them.  The victim was located along the east coal rib, and the front right corner of the mantrip was in contact with the west rib just inby the location of the victim.

Best Practices

  • Operate all mobile equipment at speeds that are consistent with the type of equipment, roadway conditions, grades, clearances, visibility, and other traffic.
  • Always wear a seatbelt.
  • Maintain full control of the equipment while it is in motion.
  • Standardize and establish traffic rules, including speed limits, signals, and warning signs, at the mine.
  • Limit speed to safe levels by installing positive controls on personnel carriers and mantrips.
  • Install safety devices to keep miners from falling or being thrown out of moving vehicles.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #5 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2015

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m05On March 17, 2015, a 44-year old haul truck driver with 4 days of experience was injured at a dredge operation. He was operating a loaded articulated haul truck along an elevated roadway next to a dredge pond. After traveling about 125 yards from the loading point, the haul truck drifted into the water. The victim was removed from the truck, transported to a hospital, and then transferred to a trauma center where he died on March 19, 2015.

Best Practices

  • Task train mobile equipment operators adequately and ensure each operator can demonstrate proficiency in all phases of mobile equipment operation before performing work.
  • Provide and maintain adequate berms or guardrails on the banks of roadways where a drop-off exists.
  • Conduct adequate pre-operational checks and correct any defects affecting safety in a timely manner 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.
  • Conduct adequate work place examinations using competent persons and promptly correct hazardous conditions that adversely affect safety and health.
  • Ensure that all exits from cabs on mobile equipment are maintained and operable.

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

Fatality #24 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m24On December 29, 2014, a 21-year-old warehouse bagger with 1 week of experience was killed at a clay mine. The victim was operating a forklift, hauling a bag of dust, when the forklift overturned.

Best Practices

  • Indoctrinate new employees in safety rules and safe work procedures.
  • Task train mobile equipment operators adequately in all phases of mobile equipment operation before operating mobile equipment.
  • Monitor new miners routinely to determine that safe work procedures are followed.
  • Conduct adequate pre-operational checks and correct any defects affecting safety in a timely manner prior to operating mobile equipment.
  • Ensure the load being transported is within the weight capacity of the machine and within the reach limits for stable operation.
  • Ensure the load being transported is secured to prevent shifting.
  • 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)

Fatality #23 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m23On December 1, 2014, a 46-year-old contract truck driver with 26 years of experience was killed at a limestone mine.  The articulating haul truck he was operating traveled over a roadway berm and went into a large pond.  Dive teams extricated the victim from the truck.

Best Practices

  • Task train mobile equipment operators adequately in all phases of mobile equipment operation before operating mobile equipment.
  • Conduct adequate pre-operational checks and correct any defects affecting safety in a timely manner 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.
  • Provide and maintain adequate berms or guardrails on the banks of roadways where a drop-off exists.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #22 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m22On November 25, 2014, a 67-year-old truck driver with 10½ years of experience was killed at a sandstone mine.  The victim backed a haul truck to the edge of the overburden dumpsite and started to raise the truck’s bed to dump a load of material.  The bank failed, causing the truck to overturn and fall 30 feet below. The victim died en route to the hospital.

Best Practices

  • Task train all persons to understand safe job procedures.
  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures before beginning work.
  • Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed.
  • Conduct adequate pre-operational checks prior to operating mobile equipment.
  • Always wear a seat belt when operating self-propelled mobile equipment.
  • Examine dumping locations for stability prior to dumping the first load and as ground conditions warrant during the work shift.  Where trucks are loaded out of the stockpile or ground conditions may fail to support the weight of the truck, dump loads a safe distance back from the edge.
  • Maintain berms or similar impeding devices at dumping locations where there is a hazard of overtravel or overturning.
  • Travel in a straight line when backing a truck toward a dump location.  Do not approach on a turn.
  • Monitor persons routinely to determine safe work procedures are followed.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #15 for Coal Mining 2014

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c15On Tuesday, December 16, 2014, a 34-year-old repairman, with approximately 15 years of mining experience, was killed when struck by a ram car while he was walking inby toward the face of the No. 7 entry. The ram car operator moved the ram car into the No. 7 entry with the batteries positioned outby the face area and then traveled towards the face area, striking the victim with the left side, trailer end of the ram car.

Best Practices

  • Use proximity detection systems to protect personnel from accidents of this type.  See the proximity detection single source page on the MSHA web site.
  • Ensure that visibility is clear in the direction of travel and across the equipment being operated.
  • Use transparent curtain for checks and line curtains in the active face areas.
  • Sound audible warnings if the equipment operator’s visibility is obstructed, when making turns, reversing direction, or approaching ventilation curtains.  Ensure the sound levels of audible warnings are significantly higher than ambient noise.
  • Come to a complete stop and sound an audible warning before moving equipment through ventilation controls/curtains.
  • Operate lights in the direction of travel when operating haulage equipment.
  • Position yourself in an area or location where equipment operators can readily see you and confirm eye contact with the operator.
  • Require the use of personal strobe lights for any foot traffic inby the tailpiece.  Position personal strobe lights on the back of hard hats or equivalent areas and use reflective materials to ensure maximum visibility.
  • For more information related to struck-by equipment accidents, view the following link: MSHA – Safety Targets Programs – Hit By Underground Equipment at www.msha.gov

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #19 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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m19aOn September 26, 2014, a 55-year-old maintenance mechanic with approximately 2 years of experience was killed on the surface of an underground salt mine.  The victim was performing maintenance on a forklift in a mill building when the forklift moved forward, pinning him against a wooden support pole.

Best Practices

  • Conduct a pre-operational check to identify and correct any defects that may affect the safe operation prior to operating mobile equipment.  Remove the mobile equipment from service if any defective items are not corrected.
  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures before beginning work. Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed and use methods to properly protect persons.
  • Ensure that persons are trained, including task-training, to address the hazards associated with the work being performed.
  • Block and secure equipment against motion before performing maintenance.
  • Follow the equipment manufacturers recommended maintenance procedures when performing repairs to machinery.
  • Ensure that equipment control switches are in the off position and the brake is set before performing maintenance.
  • Always be aware of your surroundings and any hazards that may be present.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #13 for Coal Mining 2014

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FTL14c13aOn Saturday, October 18, 2014, at approximately 10:05 p.m., a contractor truck driver with over 5 years of truck driving experience was killed while operating a rock truck. The driver was removing top soil ahead of the East Elk Pit when he drove off a highwall and fell approximately 240 feet.

Best Practices
  • Operate equipment in a manner that is consistent with conditions of roadways, grades, clearance, visibility, traffic, and the type of equipment used.
  • Standardize and post traffic rules, signals, and warning signs.
  • Provide and maintain adequate berms and other barriers that are at least mid-axle high on the banks of roadways where a drop off exists.
  • Train all employees on the equipment they operate, on safe job procedures, hazard recognition, and on hazard avoidance.
  • Maintain control of equipment at all times during operation.  Know the truck’s capabilities, operating ranges, load-limits, and safety features.
  • Monitor work activities and examine work areas to assure safe work practices are followed.
  • Monitor contract employees adequately at all job sites to ensure that safe work procedures are being followed.
  • Conduct pre-operational checks to identify and repair any defects that may affect the safe operation of equipment before it is placed into service.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #16 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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ftl2014m16On July 23, 2014, a 51-year-old contract truck driver with 30 years of experience was killed at a cement operation while delivering a load of fly ash. The victim exited the truck to remove the tarp. A front-end loader backed down a ramp and struck the victim, pinning him against the truck.

Best Practices

  • Task train all persons to stay clear of mobile equipment.
  • Be aware of the location and traffic patterns of mobile equipment in your work area.
  • Before moving mobile equipment, look in the direction of travel and use all mirrors and cameras to ensure no persons are in the intended path.
  • Sound the horn to warn persons of intended movement and give them time to move to a safe location.
  • Operate mobile equipment at reduced speeds in work areas.
  • Ensure that backup alarms and lights on mobile equipment are maintained and operational.
  • Remain in your truck when mobile equipment is being operated nearby.
  • Communicate with mobile equipment operators and ensure they acknowledge your presence.  Stay in the line of sight with mobile equipment operators.  Never assume the equipment operator sees you.
  • Before operating equipment, always ensure other persons are clear and safely positioned.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)