On April 25, 2011, a 31 year- old drill operator with 6 weeks of experience was killed at an underground crushed stone operation. He was walking in a crosscut when a slab of roof, approximately 5 feet wide by 6 feet long by 10 inches thick, struck him.
Best Practices
- Train persons to identify work place hazards and take action to correct them.
- Design, install, and maintain a support system to control the ground in places where persons work or travel.
- Examine and test ground conditions in areas where work is to be performed prior to work commencing and as ground conditions warrant during the shift.
- When ground conditions create a hazard to persons, install additional ground support before other work is permitted in the affected area.
- Be alert to any change of ground conditions.
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), MSHA Investigation Report(pdf), Overview(powerpoint), Overview (pdf).