On August 21, 2020, a (customer*) truck driver (at a Gilmore City, IA mine with 32 employees*) sustained fatal head injuries while he was deploying the automatic tarp on his fifth-wheel side-dump trailer.
Best Practices:
- Install and use constant pressure electrical switches to deploy/retract automatic trailer tarps.
- Inspect and maintain tarping systems routinely to ensure tarping systems function properly.
- Install signs warning of the hazard of standing near trailers while automatic tarps are deployed/retracted.
- Train miners on proper tarping techniques to understand the hazards associated with the work being performed.
Additional Information:
This is the sixth fatality classified as “Machinery” in 2020. (Fatal Alert posted by MSHA 11/30/20.* Italicized details added by safeminers.com)
Click here for: Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).