Slip or Fall of Person

Fatality #9 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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ftl2014m09On February 27, 2014, a 27-year-old contract mechanic with 2 years of experience was injured at an underground limestone mine.  The victim was repairing a hydraulic pump on a scaler when fell from an attached walkway approximately five feet to the ground.  He was airlifted to a hospital where he died the next day.

Best Practices

  • Ensure that persons are trained, including task-training, to understand the hazards associated with the work being performed.
  • 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.
  • Conduct work place examinations before beginning any work.
  • Do not place yourself in a position that will expose you to hazards while performing a task.
  • Ensure effective gates, safety chains, or railings are used and properly maintained where openings may exist that could pose a hazard.

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

Fatality #2 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2014

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ftl2014m02

On February 21, 2014, a 34-year old contract laborer with 6 months of experience was killed at a cement operation when attempting to access an elevator in the finish mill. When the victim opened the elevator door on the fourth floor landing, he stepped into the elevator shaft and fell approximately 51 feet to the top of the elevator car located on the ground floor.

Best Practices

  • Immediately report any elevator problems to management.
  • Ensure that any problems affecting the safety of an elevator are repaired promptly.
  • Ensure that elevator door interlocks, that prevent the door from being opened unless the elevator car is present, are functional.
  • Ensure that elevator doors will not open unless an elevator car is at the floor landing.
  • Install audible signals that sound when the elevator car is at the landing prior to the doors opening.
  • Train all persons to be aware of their surroundings when entering or exiting an elevator car.

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

Ladder Safety Materials and More…

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LadderSafetyGuide

A ladder safety Powerpoint and PDF were released by MSHA at a February 5 Stakeholders Meeting.  The Powerpoint version includes 62 slides, most of which include extensive detail in the notes section that aren’t visible to the regular viewing audience when presented. MSHA intends that “it will serve as the basis for a series of inspector trainings on ladder safety in the coming months, and will ensure that MSHA inspectors, miners and mine operators are all working with the same information”.

Major areas covered include: Ladder construction and maintenance; requirements specific to fixed and portable ladders; underground ladders and travelways; and the differentiation between ladder standards and safe access standards. Photographs in the presentation clearly show proper and improper practices, and note which conditions would be cited in an inspection.

Get it along with other materials from the meeting here.

Fatality #20 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2013

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ftl2013m20On December 6, 2013, a 61-year old reagent handler with 39 years of experience was killed at an iron ore mine. The victim was working on top of a snow and ice covered railroad tanker car when he fell to a concrete floor approximately 12 feet below.

Best Practices

  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures. Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed and the methods to properly protect persons.
  • 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.
  • Remove snow and ice from work areas.
  • Always use fall protection with a lanyard anchored securely when working where there is a danger of falling.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #14 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2013

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ftl2013m14On October 17, 2013, a 52-year old electrician with 5 years of experience was injured at a cement operation. The victim was standing on a step ladder, pulling cable in a cable tray. The mounting bracket for the tray broke loose from the wall and the tray struck the step ladder. The victim fell 5 feet from the ladder, striking his head on the concrete floor. The victim was transported to a hospital where he died on October 19, 2013.

Best Practices
 

  • Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations when installing a cable tray on a supporting structure.
  • Ensure that the correct anchors are used and that the supporting structures are adequate when installing a cable tray.
  • Always be aware of your surroundings and any hazards that may be present.
  • Properly position ladders used to reach elevated areas.

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

Fall Protection Awareness

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c92143_mAccessing, operating or maintaining self-propelled mobile equipment often requires activities such as climbing ladders or walking on machinery surfaces which expose miners to fall hazards, in all types of working conditions. Modern mobile equipment is designed to minimize slip and fall hazards; but large machinery, new and old, can require work at heights with a fall potential that can cause serious injury or death. 25 miners died as a result of falls from heights from 2005 through 2012 in Metal and Nonmetal mines.

Get a pdf of MSHA’s Fall Protection safety flyer here.

Fatality #20 for Coal Mining 2012

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ftl2012c20On Friday, December 14, 2012, a 52-year-old rock truck operator with over 13 years of mining experience fell from the truck he operated while attempting to ascend the access ladder to the operator’s cab. On December 28, 2012, he died of complications from the injuries sustained in the fall.

Best Practices
  • Always use the “Three Points of Contact” method. Ensure that either two hands and one foot, or one hand and two feet are in contact with the ladder at all times when mounting and dismounting equipment.
  • Keep hands free of any objects when mounting or dismounting equipment.
  • Maintain traction by ensuring footwear is free of potential slipping hazards such as dirt, oil, and grease.
  • Always face equipment when mounting or dismounting it.
  • Always maintain and use the access provided by the manufacturer.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf)

Fatality #13 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2012

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On September 22, 2012, a 34-year old contract laborer with 6 days of experience was killed when he fell through a 6 ft. X 8 ft. hole that was partially covered with 2″ X 4″ boards and ¾ ” thick plywood. He fell into a chute landing on a belt conveyor 30 feet below. The victim was assigned fire watch duties on a welding/cutting operation that was taking place on the floor above him.

Best Practices
 

  • Establish and discuss safe work procedures. Identify and control all hazards. Train all persons to recognize and understand safe job procedures before beginning work.
  • Always use fall protection when working where a fall hazard exists.
  • Protect openings near travelways through which persons may fall by installing appropriately designed railings, barriers, or covers.
  • Keep temporary access opening covers secured in place at all times when the opening is not being used. Replace deteriorated floor plating and grating.
  • Ensure that areas are barricaded or have warning signs posted at all approaches if hazards exist that are not immediately obvious.

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

Fatality #11 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2012

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On August 31, 2012, a 49-year old driller with 24 years of mining experience was killed at an underground gold mine. The victim was assigned to prepare the work area to set up a long-hole bench drill and was working near an open stope when he fell down the stope. He was inadvertently loaded out with the material and transported by a haul truck to the surface where he was later discovered.

Best Practices
 

  • Always use fall protection with a lanyard anchored securely when working where there is a danger of falling.
  • Examine workplaces for changing conditions when the strata, drill patterns, or other workplace conditions change.
  • Establish policies and procedures for safely clearing hung or stuck material and ensure that persons follow those safe policies and procedures.
  • Ensure that persons are task-trained and understand the hazards associated with the work being performed.
  • Ensure that areas are barricaded or have warning signs posted at all approaches where hazards exist that are not immediately obvious.
  • Consider using a “miner in distress” call feature available on many communication and tracking systems carried by miners. This feature is designed to improve emergency response if a miner working alone or out of sight of other miners requires immediate assistance.

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

Fatality #9 for Coal Mining 2012

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On May 24, 2012, a 43-year-old shaft worker with 39 weeks of mining experience died from injuries he received on May 15, 2012. The victim was helping pour concrete in a 30-foot diameter shaft that was under construction. The victim and his coworkers were using a hose to direct concrete into forms that lined the shaft wall. The hose was overloaded as concrete came out of the hopper too fast, which caused the hose to surge. This sudden movement of the hose knocked the victim and his coworkers off their feet, resulting in a fracture to the left leg of the victim. The victim was treated at a local hospital and released. On May 24, 2012, he passed away at his residence as a result of complications of this injury.

Best Practices

  • Provide a means to control water, air, concrete, etc., lines when they are pressurized to prevent surges and other unintended movement.
  • Train miners on procedures and safety precautions to take if the discharge line becomes plugged or overloaded.
  • Provide positive communication between the worker controlling the flow and the workers manually handling the concrete hose.
  • Safety chains or guarding should be used at concrete hose discharge location.
  • Anchor the discharge line to prevent it from movement in the event of a surge.

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