On February 1, 2014, a 56-year old contract belt operator with 4 months of experience was killed at an iron ore mine. The victim was cleaning a return idler inside the frame of a belt conveyor when he became entangled between the return idler and the belt.
- Establish policies and procedures for conducting specific tasks on belt conveyors.
- Before beginning any work, ensure that persons assigned to clean belt conveyors are task trained and understand the hazards associated with the work to be performed.
- Do not perform work on a belt conveyor until the power is off, locked, and tagged, and machinery components are blocked against motion.
- Never clean pulleys or idlers manually while belt conveyors are operating.
- Identify hazards around belt conveyor systems, design guarding, and securely install the guarding to ensure miners do not contact moving parts.
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), MSHA Investigation Report (pdf), Overview (powerpoint), Overview (pdf).