On July 29, 2020, a miner (63 year-old plant operator in Missouri with six years of experience*) was injured when his arm became entangled in a stacker conveyor belt (at a sand and gravel mine with three employees*). The victim was airlifted to a trauma center where he passed away a week later.
Best Practices:
- Turn off, lock out power sources and block against motion before removing or bypassing a guard or other safety device to clean, repair, perform maintenance or clear a blockage on a belt conveyor.
- Never clean pulleys or idlers manually while belt conveyors are operating.
- Avoid wearing loose-fitting clothing and keep tools, body parts and long hair away from moving belt conveyor components.
- Train all personnel in safe work procedures.
- Properly guard moving machine parts to protect persons from contact that could cause injury.
Additional Information:
This is the 12th fatality reported in 2020, and the second classified as “Powered Haulage.” – * (Italicized details added by safeminers.com)
Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).