On June 9, 2021, two miners, a 55 year old foreman with 24 years of experience and a 65 year old supervisor with 42 years’ experience*, were fatally injured at a mine with 1062 employees*, when a locomotive collided with the personnel carrier in which they were riding. 

Best Practices: 

• Install lights or other engineering controls to let miners know when it is safe to travel on track haulageways.
• Implement a communicaton system so that one person, who is not on any mobile equipment, has the sole authority to authorize travel on track haulageways.
• Establish and maintain effective communication protocols that require identification, location and intended travel, between locomotives, light vehicles and foot traffic.
• Train miners on proper traffic patterns and procedures.

Additional Information: 

These are the 16th and 17th fatalities reported in 2021, and the 8th and 9th classified as “Powered Haulage.”  (*details added by safeminers.com from MSHA data.)

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

On October 31, 2011, a 42 year-old muck haul leadman with 3½ years of experience was killed in an underground platinum mine. The victim was operating a 4-yard loader in a drift when the loader struck the left rib. At that time, a spieling (rebar anchored in the rib for ground control) that was protruding from the rib, penetrated the front side window, entered the cab, and struck him.

•  Operators of self-propelled mobile equipment shall maintain control of the equipment while it is in motion.
• Maintain all roadways free of materials that may pose a hazard to equipment operators. This includes materials on the floor and protruding from the ribs, back, or walls.
• Operating speeds shall be consistent with conditions of roadways, tracks, grades, clearance, visibility, curves, and traffic.
• Slow down or drop to a lower gear when necessary. Post areas where lower speeds are warranted.
• Always wear a seat belt when operating self-propelled mobile equipment.
• Trim protruding spielings.
• Keep mobile equipment operator’s stations free of materials that can impair the safe operation of the equipment.
• When clearances on roadways are restricted, install warning devices in advance of the area and conspicuously mark it.