Coal Fatality – 1/5/19

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On Saturday, January 5, 2019, a 55-year-old contract miner received fatal injuries when he was pinned between a pneumatically powered air lock equipment door and the concrete rib barrier located near the shaft bottom.
Best Practices:

  • Design and maintain ventilation controls, including airlock doors to provide air separation and permit travel between or within air courses or entries.
  • Ensure that airlock doors are designed and maintained to prevent simultaneous opening of both sets of doors.
  • Ensure miners are trained in the proper use of automatic doors and procedures to follow in the event the doors malfunction.
  • Provide means to override automatic airlock doors and allow manual operation in case of an emergency.
  • Keep the path of automatic doors clear of miners and equipment.
  • When changes in ventilation are made, test automatic doors to ensure they operate safely under the new conditions.
  • Perform thorough examinations of airlock doors to assure safe operating conditions.  When a hazardous condition is found, remove the doors from service until they are repaired.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).

MSHA Changing How it Counts

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Lost and Confused SignpostI rarely if ever have used this platform to express an opinon, preferring to have the site just report facts, but I have a fact to report that I definitely have an opinion on and so, here it is.

MSHA is changing how it counts fatalities. It’s seemingly part of what the Assistant Secretary said at TRAM last October about his desire to “Blur” the lines between Metal-Nonmetal and Coal. As a trainer who does his best to satisfy MSHA by providing relevent material it’s not only helpful but necessary to divide the two. The rules are different and miners most often are going into just one type of mine, not both.

The announcement appears on the MSHA web page that fatalities not be seperated and indeed fatalities number one and two occured in coal mines and three and four were in metal-nonmetal mines. Without a careful counting as the year goes on it will be difficult to compare to previous years or tell how the very different industries are doing. Other helpful training materials that MSHA has provided in the past to help us understand where we are even within the various industries of metal-nonmetal have disappeared. Secretary Zatezalo rightly said last October that as we approach zero fatalities we have to change our approach to continue to make advances, but blurring lines and failing to interpret and publish data isn’t a change in the right direction. If anything these changes will simply make it more difficult to understand where we are and if we don’t know that we certainly can’t tell where we’re going.

We will continue to seperate the industries here even in the title to fatalities, referencing them both by MSHA’s fatality number and numbering them by Metal Nonmetal and Coal. You can also select the Categories and click on tags on the right side of the page to further select industries. I started this page to assist in my own training material design. If there’s any way I can help in yours by interpreting data here let me know. MSHA doesn’t seem to be doing it much anymore.

-Randy

MSHA Web Maintenance

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Just a heads up that while MSHA was unaffected by the recent government shutdown the links to MSHA may not work for several days because of a scheduled maintenance by the Department of Labor. Instead you’ll get this message:

Scheduled Maintenance

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is conducting scheduled system maintenance beginning Friday, February 15 at 5:00 p.m. ET through Tuesday, February 19 at 8:00 a.m. ET. Most DOL websites and web systems will be affected and unavailable to the public.

The National Contact Center remains open 24 hours a day to contact: 

  • Job Corps — 1-800-733-5627
  • Mine Safety and Health Administration — 1-800-746-1553
  • Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) — 1-800-321-6742

Fatality #12 for Coal 2018

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c1812-fatalOn Thursday, November 29, 2018, a mechanic with 29 years of mining experience was severely injured when hydraulic pressure propelled a piece of metal out of a hydraulic fitting that he was examining, and the metal penetrated his head.  The miner died on December 30, 2018, as a result of his injuries.
Best Practices: 

  • Train miners to recognize hazards in pressurized systems before troubleshooting or performing work on such systems.
  • Consult and follow the manufacturer’s recommended safe work procedures.
  • Position yourself in a safe location, away from any potential sources of failure, while troubleshooting or testing pressurized systems.  When possible, examine and inspect hydraulic components while they are de-pressurized.
  • Remove pressure from the hydraulic system before beginning modifications or repairs.
  • Make modifications or repairs with proper components and parts that are adequately rated and specifically designed for such purposes.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).

Fatality #11 for Coal 2018

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c1811-fatal.jpgOn December 29, 2018, a 25-year old dredge operator, with 21 weeks of experience, was fatally injured at a coal mine. The victim drowned when the dredge he was operating sank.
Best Practices: 

  • Task train all persons to recognize all potential hazardous conditions and ensure they understand safe job procedures for elimination of the hazards before beginning work.
  • Examine work areas and equipment during the shift for hazards that may be created as a result of the work being performed.
  • Conduct a risk analysis before starting non-routine tasks to ensure that all hazards are evaluated and eliminated.
  • Establish procedures requiring persons to alert coworkers when they are in danger.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).

Fatality #10 for Coal 2018

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c1810-fatalOn Thursday, December 20, 2018, a mobile bridge carrier (MBC) operator, with 5 years and 21 weeks of mining experience, was fatally injured while operating his detached, remote-controlled machine during the mining process.  As the continuous haulage system pulled forward in preparation of mining, he was crushed between the coal rib and the No. 2 mobile bridge conveyor that was between both mobile bridge carriers.
Best Practices: 

  • Maintain communications between equipment operators of a continuous haulage system prior to starting or tramming any component of the system.
  • Institute and maintain a high level of equipment-specific training for all operators, which includes proper operator positioning during machine operation and also protocols for certain scenarios.
  • Do not position yourself in pinch-point areas while remotely operating equipment.  Ensure that equipment operators remain in the confines of the equipment cab, if equipped, while the machine is running.
  • Always perform thorough pre-operational examinations on mobile equipment to identify any defects that may affect the safe operation of equipment before it is placed into service.
  • Be familiar with the de-energizing switches on your machine and remote-control unit. “Panic-out” at the first sign of a hazardous situation.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).

Fatality #9 for Coal 2018

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On Tuesday, December 11, 2018, a 38-year-old miner was fatally injured at a surface coal mine.  The miner was operating a front-end loader to move shot rock near the toe of a 63-foot-high highwall.  A large portion of the highwall collapsed onto the front-end loader, crushing the operator cab and fatally injuring the miner.
Best Practices: 

  • Safely examine highwalls from as many perspectives as possible (bottom, sides, and top/crest).  Look for signs of cracking and other geologic features that could lead to instability and secure or remove hazardous conditions.  Conduct additional examinations as ground conditions warrant, especially during periods of changing weather conditions.
  • Follow the approved ground control plan at all times to ensure the safe control of highwalls.
  • Use mining methods that ensure highwall stability and safe working conditions and do not excavate the base of the highwall.
  • Train all miners to recognize hazardous highwall conditions.
  • Operate mobile equipment perpendicular to the highwall or with the operator’s cab positioned away from the highwall.  Ensure that miners work, travel, and operate mining equipment at safe distances from the highwall.
  • Use proper blasting techniques for forming highwalls and thoroughly examine the highwall after each blasting operation.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).

Happy 2019

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Seems like I just got used to writing 2018 and I have to change again. For those of you who get course announcements please forgive any 2018’s that show up on dates and assume I’m not training in the past and it should be the current year! Course announcements come out more or less monthly and if you can attend a class in SE Pennsylvania and want to get notices email me. You can also see the current schedule and sign up for classes here.

Every new year brings challenges more difficult than getting the number right. Safety is a never ending challenge. Mining has been getting increasingly safer, but the fewer workers who are hurt or killed the harder it is to improve that number. Assistant Secretary of MSHA Zatezalo made this point well at the Mine Safety Academy in October when he said we are close to our goal, but just as in football the game changes when you’re a few yards from the end zone. We have to change our game too if we’re going to improve from here on. How are you going to change your game this year?

Fatality #16 for Metal/Nonmetal Mining 2018

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On November 11, 2018, a 45-year old Underground Technician with 4 years of experience was killed when the Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) machine he had been operating underground ran over him.

Best Practices

  • Ensure that all braking systems installed on mobile equipment function properly when the engine is operating and when it is shut off.  Do not depend on hydraulic systems to hold mobile equipment in a stationary position
  • Block LHDs against motion by setting the parking brake. Turn the tires toward the rib and lower the bucket onto the floor.  Use wheel chocks when parking mobile equipment.
  • Conduct adequate pre-operational examinations on all self-propelled mobile equipment and promptly correct any defects affecting safety.
  • Before beginning a task, miners should discuss the work procedures, identify all possible hazards, and ensure steps are taken to safely perform the task.

Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).