On Friday, January 22, 2010, at approximately 9:15 a.m., a 29 year old continuous miner operator with 12 years of mining experience was fatally injured when a rib roll, approximately 70 inches high, 63 inches long, and 103 inches wide, occurred. The victim was operating a remote control continuous mining machine to clean a previously bolted crosscut when he was struck by the coal rib and pinned against the mine floor.
Best Practices
- Conduct a thorough visual examination of the roof, face, and ribs immediately before any work or travel is started in an area and thereafter as conditions warrant.
- Adequately support or scale any loose rib or roof material before beginning work.
- Perform careful examinations of pillar corners, particularly where the angles formed between entries and crosscuts are less than 90 degrees.
- Permanently support openings that create an intersection before any work or travel in the intersection.
- Be alert to changing geologic conditions which may affect roof/rib conditions.
Click here for: MSHA Investigation Report (pdf), Spanish Fatalgram (doc)