On May 28, 2010, a 59-year-old supervisor with 20 years of experience was fatally injured at an underground gold mine. The victim and another miner entered a blast area when a misfire detonated without warning. The other miner was injured and hospitalized.
Best Practices
- Follow the manufacturers’ guidelines for the storage and usage of explosives.
- Keep explosives storage areas clean, dry and orderly.
- Properly rotate explosive stock to use oldest stock first.
- Never use damaged/deteriorated/outdated explosives, initiation devices, or blasting agents.
- Wait a minimum of the required times before entering the blast area when either a misfire and/or burning explosives are a possibility.
Click here for: MSHA Investigation Report (pdf), Overview (powerpoint), Overview (pdf), Spanish Fatalgram (pdf)