Maintenance Man

Contractor suffered fatal injuries while performing maintenance on "Dutchman" of electric shovel bucket. Fatal injuries resulted from being pinned between shovel bucket door and bucket.

Texto original en inglés de la MSHA

On August 23, 2022, at 1:57 a.m., David Warren III, a 24 year-old mechanic with three years of mining experience, died from injuries he sustained when the 13-ton steel dipper door he was working on closed, crushing him between the dipper door and the edge of the dipper. The accident occurred because the mine operator did not: 1) adequately block the dipper door from motion before miners performed repairs, and 2) task train miners to adequately block the door before performing repairs on the dipper.

1. The mine operator did not adequately block the dipper door from motion before miners performed repairs.

   Acción correctiva: The mine operator replaced the dipper involved in the accident with one that does not require opening the dipper door to access the latch bar. All other dippers at the mine also do not require opening the dipper door to access the latch bar. If a maintenance task requires opening and blocking the door, the mine operator developed a new written standard operating procedure with a double-blocking system. The system uses two engineer-certified blocks, a primary block and a redundant secondary block. The primary block is aluminum, and the secondary block is red oak with metal framing, which rests on the ground. The primary and secondary blocks will be attached to a chain welded to the dipper door on each side of the door. A come-a-long (a wire rope hand ratchet puller) will be used to make sure the secondary block rests on the ground. The mine operator trained all miners who will perform and supervise this task on the new standard operating procedure.

2. The mine operator did not task train miners to adequately block the door before performing the repair on the dipper.

   Acción correctiva: The mine operator revised their training plan to ensure that miners who will perform or supervise maintenance tasks on an open dipper door will be task trained on the new written standard operating 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

STRIP, QUARY, OPEN PIT

Tipo de accidente

Atrapado en, bajo o entre un objeto en movimiento y uno fijo

Fuente de la lesión

SURFACE MINING MACHINES

Naturaleza de la lesión

CRUSHING

Parte del cuerpo afectada

HIPS (PELVIS/ORGANS/KIDNEYS/BUTTOCKS)

Experiencia minera total

3 years

Experiencia en esta mina

1 year

Experiencia en este puesto

3 years

Grado de la lesión

FATALITY