Three Oaks Coal

Operator injured shoulder & upper back some time while operating or climbing onto end dump. On Thursday, July 18th operator was taken to a clinic and diagnosed with a shoulder & upper back strain. Operator was prescribed physical therapy, over the counter pain meds and placed on work restrictions that could be tolerated making this an MSHA recordable.

Employee was air gouging to remove the wear plate from a D9 dozer's blade. As employee was making the last cut, the stored energy released the top of the plate and it struck the employee on the right shoulder causing them to lose balance and fall/ Hard hat came off and head struck the new wear plate which was staged nearby. Employee has 5 years mining experience.

A privately owned vehicle traveling east bound on public highway (FM 696) lost control and crashed through the fence onto mine property. The victim was ejected from vehicle and died at the scene. The victim was not a miner and did not work for Luminant Mining.

A group of mechanics were working to change out a conveyor gearbox. The mechanics were using a crane to lift the gearbox pedestal slightly, so it could be shifted into position. During this process, one of the lifting eye bolts broke, and the bolt head flew up and struck one of the mechanics in EE's mouth. EE suffered cuts a fractured #7 tooth and cuts to EE's lips and mouth.

A highwall slough occurred in the C Area Pit. The section of highwall that sloughed was approximately 300 feet wide and material went about halfway across the pit floor. No miners were working in the immediate area, but miners who were working in the pit, north of the slough were withdrawn.

Electrician was manually moving de-energized trail cable when EE felt a sharp pain in left bicep. EE did not wish to seek medical attention at that time. On 5/12/2017, the electrician was in pain and asked to see a physician. EE was diagnosed with a left bicep strain. Restrictions and physical therapy made this injury become recordable.

A dozer operator was discovered lying beside a portable toilet in the field. EMS was contacted and the employee was transported to a local trauma center. It is believed that the employee passed out after exiting the toilet and fell back hitting head and back against the toilet's skid. Employee was diagnosed with two fractured vertebrae in lower back.

The Dozer Operator was ascending back to the cab, lost footing striking right shin on the push arm of the tractor. The Operator did not know that the laceration had occurred until the Operator was back in the cab. The conditions were wet and muddy due to the rain event that was occurring.

A fire was noticed burning in a grass field that had been reclaimed north of the main haul road. The high winds spread the fire quickly. Water trucks at the mine along with fire trucks from Blue, TX VFD worked to contain and extinguish the fire. The fire was contained within 45 minutes and fully extinguished with 1.5 hours. Approximately 50 acres was scorched.

Mechanic was performing a vacuum test on an 8" Gorman Rupp Pump. While removing the cover on the discharge side of the pump, one of the cam locks cut into the palm of hand. EE was taken to a local ER where six stitches were used to close the wound.

A mechanic had been working inside the hoist drum of a BE2570 Dragline replacing bolts. That evening, EE began to experience irritation to EE's right eye that continued to the next day. EE went to a medical clinic where the physician discovered a fragment of metal in EE's eye. The foreign object was removed along with the residual rust. Anti-bacterial drop were prescribed.

Operating empty coal hauler traveling down haul road. Operator apparently dozed off, the hauler contacted a berm on the l side of the road, traveled the top of the 60' long berm, went off the l side of road, crossed a ditch and came to stop about 407' off the haul road. Operator received a cut to the back of head requiring sutures. EE stated was wearing seat belt.

Mechanic was handling steel grating when a piece fell and mashed EE's finger causing a laceration. EE was taken to a local ER where seven stitches were used to close the wound. It was later discovered that EE also had a fracture in the tip of the finger.

Employee received a letter from NIOSH stating the x-ray from medical screening showed evidence of first stage pneumoconiosis.

Electrician was doing electrical maintenance repairs, when descending off a six foot ladder the electrician misplaced last step off of the ladder. Electrician lost balance and fell into a steel metal support in the revolving frame of the dragline, resulting in laceration to the arm requiring sutures.

Employee was dismounting from excavator. EE placed one foot on the ground and had one foot on the step when ee slipped and fell backwards, landing on buttock in the dirt. The impact caused a contusion to sacrum.

Employee was performing pre-op inspection on pickup truck at Ops building. Employee was standing inside the driver's door. Employee reached in, placed foot on brake and put the truck in reverse to check back-up lights. Foot slipped off brake pedal and onto accelerator causing truck to go in reverse. Employee was knocked to the ground and the front left tire rolled over legs.

Employee had completed fueling an excavator and was ascending wet and muddy wooden steps at the fuel station berm when EE slipped and fell striking EE's left shoulder. EE was returning the fuel nozzle to the tank.

Wind blew the employee's hard hat off of head, as employee tried to catch the hard hat they slammed the hard hat against left ear causing a hematoma. Dr. lanced and drained the area affected on the Left Ear, and a couple of sutures were applied.

Employee was using a 36" pry bar to move a motor away from a fluid coupling to replace the spider. Employee pried one side and was attempting to pry the opposite side. Employee pushed the pry bar and felt a "pop" in RIGHT shoulder. Employee kept working. Employee felt alright until they tried to raise RIGHT arm and felt pain in shoulder. Employee was placed on "restricted duty".

A highwall slough approximately 400 in length occurred in the C area box pit. Miners were removed from the pit for precaution.

Employee was attempting to build a replacement hydraulic hose. The employee had just cut the new hose to the proper length and when he attempted to remove the hose from the clamp, the stored energy caused the hose to snap back and struck him in the bottom lip. The employee received stitches to close the laceration to the lip.

During the Pre-Op inspection of 62008 Hauler the employee stepped on the side of a tire rut, rolled his right ankle twisting the right knee causing the employee to feel a pop in the knee

Employee was changing out trunions on dragline #80, and experienced heat illness.

A mechanic was changing oil on an excavator. The employee was standing between the excavator and a truck retrieving materials when wind blew the right rear excavator oil compartment door open impacting her right thumb between the excavator door and the truck passenger door. The thumb was cut just below the first joint. The employee received three sutures in her right thumb.

On 4/16 employee dismounted forklift without facing the forklift or using three points of contact. Employee lost balance and twisted right knee when his boot caught the lip of the step. He said he did not need medical treatment and was retrained on proper mounting/dismounting procedure. On 5/13 he requested medical treatment for pain in right knee.

The hauler operator was traveling toward the crusher along the main haul road with a load of lignite. The employee dozed off right before the DD7 Diversion causing the truck to go to the right, toward the concrete barricades. The truck traveled through the barricades and came to rest on its right side. The employee was removed from the cab utilizing a JLG lift basket.

Operating tractor pulling tandem pans. Excavating and hauling soil. Operator fell asleep returning from dump area. Tractor veered off road and hit cable crossing pole. Damage to front of tractor, no damage to pole or cable. Area was well lighted. Operator claimed no injury. Drug test negative. EE called safety on 12/4/13 & claimed lower back ache. Taken for exam same day.

While pulling a shaft out of the deflection sheave, load shifted smashing employee finger between load and fork of loader.

A grass fire was noticed behind the South Crusher Stockpile as an employee was passing by. The employee notified site management of the fire and called for a water truck to aid in extinguishing. A local volunteer fire department also arrived to give assistance. The fire burned for approximately 45 mins before being extinguished, and burned 3-5 acres of grass.

A fire started at the Booster Station on CV04 Conveyor when a pulley shaft broke causing friction igniting lignite on the belt.

Contributions to the accident were a failure to maintain situational awareness. When yielding to heavy haul equipment employee moved over too far to yield the ROW striking a barrier with the right front tire. * Upon post accident drug screen employee tested positive to be under the influence.

Employee was operating a CAT D-9T Dozer on a coal stockpile for the shift. At the end of the shift, the employee reported stiffness to the lower back after 12 hours of pushing coal. The employee asked to see a Chiropractor and was prescribed 3 visits of adjustment thus making this injury reportable.

Employee felt pop in right knee when boarding the right shoe on a BE 2570W dragline.

Employee was operating a lube truck and started feeling dizzy and light headed. He came to the office and was sitting in the break room and started vomiting. Employee was given fluids and taken to seek medical attention. The employee was diagnosed with a heat exhaustion, a heat related illness but returned to work with no restrictions the same shift.

Contributing conditions were rough terrain, hard to spot unlevel ground conditions. When traveling over the rough terrain, the employee encountered a "pot hole" in the path of travel. When the machine dipped into it the operator was jarred in his seat.

The employee was at the dragline outage site donning a safety harness when a gust of wind blew something in his right eye. Employee was taken to the ER the next morning and the object was removed and he was issued a prescription

A spoil side slide occurred in the B-1 Pit. There was coal upheaved and buckled in the pit floor thus a call to MSHA was made.

VERY WINDY DAY AND EE WAS MOVING MATERIAL OUTSIDE IN THE YARD AREA WHEN DUST/DIRT FLEW INTO HER RIGHT EYE.

Cracks were found on the spoil bench, at this time miners were removed from work area due to a potential spoil slide. The area was posted and bermed. The conditions were communicated to personnel about the potential hazards that exist in the B-1 area. The angle of repose was lessened, adjacent to the ramp leading into the area, to relieve pressure at the base of spoil.

6" of rain fell within a 3 hour period. Ditches in mine were unable to contain the torrential rain causing an inundation of A-Pit. This flooding was not localized at the mine. There were many local roads and property that were affected by this record rainfall event.

Employee was operating hauler # 62006, it was loaded and driving to the crusher from B-5. When the truck shifted on up to 5th gear, the bouncing of the seat caused employees back to jar resulting in lower back pain and spasms.

High wall failure in B-Pit.

Employee was descending a flight of stairs, when the right foot slipped out, and his right heel caught on the next step below. The result of this slip was an injury to the right knee.

EE was working on a dozer and while straightening out a hose on his wire feeder he tripped over the track that he did not see that was behind him. He fell hard to the ground and hit his right knee, he was taken to the Brackenridge hospital for treatment.

Employee was gouging clad plate on the morning of August 3, 2011 at the 3 Oaks Mine. While gouging the plate a piece of the gouging rod end broke off and landed on the cuff of his jeans. By the time he had raised his welding hood to find the "Red Hot" carbon rod, the rod had burnt through his pants leg and made its way into his boot.

While pulling a 6 inch pump discharge pipe, the pipe came free of the anchoring dirt striking the employee below the Left knee causing him to fall and land on his Left shoulder. He incurred fractures to his left arm, and left leg, below the knee.

Employee was returning to the pit with an empty hauler after dumping at the truck dump. The employee jack knifed the hauler in the haul road, and the impact to the bump blocks caused a strain in the neck and upper back. The employee was wearing his seatbelt.

While baling hay a bearing on the baler got hot causing the bale in the baler to catch on fire. When the bale was kicked out of the baler automatically it caught the grass on fire. The baler was not damaged and there were no injuries. The fire was extinguished but burned more than thirty minutes.

Employee bent over to pick up a 3C/#8 electrical wire end to roll up on truck and felt a twinge in the left hip.

Employee was ascending the stairs on a hauler and slipped on the second step falling forward. He caught himself with his right hand on the hand rail and sustained a strained shoulder.

Employee operating front end loader reached up to turn the AM/FM radio knob and strained right shoulder. On 01/25/2011 the doctor ordered multiple physical therapy treatments.

Employee was moving power cable at a BE 2570W dragline. While doing so he felt a pull in the left shoulder. He didn't think it was anything but a twinge and thought it would be okay. On 11-22-10 he went to the doctor and was directed to take six sessions of physical therapy for a shoulder strain

Employee was making adjustments to winch at the back of the Caterpillar log skidder. They were in the process of pulling a pump barge up an incline (ramp). While he was on the back of the machine on the deck, the machine began to roll down the incline and the employee jumped from the machine. The left hip and right heel were fractured.

Cross timbers from substation pole caught fire. It was a windy morning and some of the embers from the pole blew into a field creating a grass fire.

Employee's foot slipped when trying to hook other leg of lanyard of fall protection up, causing his knee to bend inward. Was only a sore knee at first, but after several weeks his soreness didn't go away, it was determined his meniscus was torn and needed surgery. Employee is getting arthroscopic surgery done on his left knee today.

Spoil side slide in B-Pit. The spoil slid in at the south end of B-pit. It covered the ramp that was used to enter and exit the pit and blocked four employees in that were working 2000 ft. away from the slide. No injuries occurred with this slide. The shift started on 11/6/2009 at 7:00 PM. The slide occurred at 2:15 AM on 11/7/2009.

EE was moving forks on skytrack ... decided to take a shortcut...instead of tipping forks to release & swing free...he tried to force while resting against the bar...fork moved catching index finger of right hand...broke finger...removed nail...peeled skin back.

Mechanic was descending from a scraper, when he got to the bottom step of the swing ladder to get off, he missed the last rung and fell backwards off the machine. He landed on his backside.

Employee was assisting with high voltage termination in a BE2570 right main transformer room. While penciling the lead insulation of a 35KV cable with a folding razor knife, the knife cut through the insulation and stabbed through his glove and into the thumb side of the right palm. This resulted in a cut approximately one inch long. Employee is left handed.

EE was erecting scaffolding at front of machine...was moving across to the rt side to attach next level floor bracing...unhooked laynard, stepped on 2x4...board shifted & he fell 10' to ground w/laynard hook still in rt hand.

Two EE's were cleaning in Rt Propel. Sending 5 gal bucket to top. Rope went slack. Found two employees laying on floor in grease. Taken by ambulance to Medical Facility in Austin...tested and found nothing damaged.

Hay bales stored inside a fence just off a county road in Lee County Texas were on fire. The cause of the fire is unknown. Local fire departments from Lexington and Blue Texas where called, and extinguished the fire. There is no injury associated with the fire and the property damage is limited to the loss of 10 round bales of hay.

A hay bale setting next to a county road caught on fire. It is on land leased to a local rancher. It smoldered for more than thirty minutes.

EE was trying to loosen bolt using pipe wrench. Hit wrench handle with hammar and caught finger in pinch point. Cut left index finger requiring 5 stitches.

EE was dismantling a scaffold when one of the upright poles shifted...falling toward EE striking him in mouth. The blow injured inside lips and loosened 4 teeth.

Employee trying to loosen clamps, awkward position, pressure on left side causing pain to left rib cage area.

This is a mine fire which started along Lee County, Texas road 309, and burned onto mine property prior to being discovered. This is an injury free event; however, the fire burned out of control more that 30-minutes. The fire consumed approximately 25 acres, and was extinguished by the local Fire Departments by 3:30 PM on 02/02/2009.

EE was trying to release a 3-ton come-a-long which was under pressure. Were lining up 2570W propel & shoe slide to pin. Force of impact caused EE to hit foot on hyd pump knocking him off balance. Badly bruised foot ... both sides.

Poor communications led to the employee working near energized equipment. The employee drew an arc resulting in electrical burns to the abdomen and right hand resulting in the loss of the right index finger. The employee also received flash burns to the face.

EE was sitting on a 5-gal bucket using a 4 1/2" grinder when the guard came loose striking below rt knee causing a laceration requiring 7 stitches.

Employee was urinating and passed out, fell backward striking the ground, fracturing his left upper arm.

Employee welding on Dragline 79 tub weldplates. Employee sustained a burn to left eye from arc welding

Employee was working inside the truck bed of a CAT 777 end dump preparing to install rigging to remove the bed. There was some parting material accumulated in the front section of the bed creating a slick walking surface. The employee slipped and reached out with his left hand contacting the truck bed fracturing his left little finger.

O-ring ruptured in engine compartment of loader. Oil sprayed causing fire. Operator stopped loader / shut down using the e-stop. Fire subsided when operator exited cab. At the bottom of left stairway fire flashed burning employee's forearms and hands. Employee was treated and released from hospital and is on light duty. Machine damage was minor.

Crew installing drag ropes on dragline #79 using a 1 1/2" drive impact to install rope clamp bolts. EE pulled back on the impact, which was suspended via overhead crane, and he felt a pinch or sting sensation in his right lower back and hip. EE didn't report the incident to his supervisor. He began experiencing back pain the following night, went to ER & reported the next day.

A mine heavy equipment operator, employee number 85033, was evaluated for hearing under the Mine Hearing Conservation program & found to have experienced a 10db hearing shift with greater than 25 avg. He was sent to a audiologist for confirmation of the results and the shift was confirmed.

2 mine mechanics were in the processing of removing a filter housing from on board air compressor on Dragline #79. EE was removing a nut & in the process got his finger in the area of a pulley that was rotating. When pulley made contact he jerked his hand back resulting in laceration. The drive belt had been removed but pulley moved due to air. Hand jerk caused injury.

Employee was descending steps on a Cat 776D coal hauler when she missed a step causing her to loose her grip and fall to the ground resulting in a fracture to her right thumb and a bruise to her head.

The dragline operator was moving a 5 gal bottle of water from a pickup to the dragline shoe. As he raised the bottle to the shoe, he felt a pop in his right shoulder. This was treated as a first aid case until his visit with an orthopedic doctor on 12/30/2005. The orthopedic physician restricted his work making the case MSHA reportable.

HEO was dismounting a Hitachi backhoe when her left ring finger got caught in the grating adjacent to the grab bar resulting in a fracture.

The Mine Electrician was using a chuck wrench to loosen the chuck on a 1/2" drill when the chuck came loose suddenly causing the electrician to contact the flute of the drill resulting in a cut requiring 6 stitches to close.

On April 27, 2005 Employee was manually lifting rebar, which strained his back. Doctor visit allowed him to return to work without any restrictions. His back continued to hurt the following days. On May 4th late in the work day he returned to doctor who then placed him on a restricted work duty beginning on the work day of May 5th. Follow up doctor visit on May 10th.