Maintenance Man

Employee placed self on the bumper of the miner below the unsupported conveyor tail boom with the machine still energized. EE apparently was trying to trouble shoot issues with the stab jack by utilizing the remote control functions and in the process inadvertently lowered the tail onto self resulting in fatal crushing injuries.

Texto original en inglés de la MSHA

On December 4, 2021, at approximately 1:10 a.m., Lester Daugherty, Jr., a 48 year-old mechanic, with 16 years of mining experience, died when he was crushed between the conveyor tail boom and the rear bumper of the continuous mining machine. The accident occurred because the mine operator did not assure that the equipment was blocked against motion before performing maintenance on machinery.

1. The mine operator did not assure that the equipment was blocked against motion before performing maintenance on machinery.

   Acción correctiva: The mine operator developed a new written procedure for performing work under the continuous mining machine tail boom. The procedure requires the power to be off except where machinery motion is necessary to make adjustments, or for troubleshooting. In cases where machinery motion is necessary, cribbing will be used as a buffer to prevent a miner from being struck by the continuous mining machine’s tail boom. The continuous mining machine’s tail boom must be blocked against motion by using cribbing that is installed on a level/stable ground and will consist of: “one-hole pin boards,” with three (3) boards per layer; or “solid wooden crib blocks,” with two (2) blocks per layer. All miners have been trained on this new procedure.

Lee el informe completo (PDF)

Hallazgos del informe final de investigación de la MSHA, que sustituye la narrativa preliminar anterior.

Actividad al momento del incidente

Machine Maintenance

Subunidad / ubicación

UNDERGROUND

Ubicación subterránea

LAST OPEN CROSSCUT

Método de minería

Continuous Mining

Tipo de accidente

Atrapado en, bajo o entre objetos en movimiento o engranados

Fuente de la lesión

UNDERGRD MINING MACHINES

Naturaleza de la lesión

CRUSHING

Parte del cuerpo afectada

MULTIPLE PARTS (MORE THAN ONE MAJOR)

Experiencia minera total

16 years

Experiencia en esta mina

3 years

Experiencia en este puesto

12 years

Grado de la lesión

FATALITY