Maintenance Man

The unit mechanic was traveling across the section. A ram car was traveling inby toward the miner. The car had only traveled a few feet inby when the employee was struck by the ram car.

On Tuesday, December 16, 2014, at approximately 10:55 a.m., Eli Eldridge (victim), a 34 year-old unit repairman, was fatally injured while traveling in the No. 7 entry on the No. 6 unit (MMU 067-0). The victim was walking across the No. 6 unit when he was struck by a coal hauler. The accident occurred because management failed to provide adequate engineering controls, administrative controls, and acceptable work practices, to protect miners from the hazards of being struck by mobile equipment.

1. The mine operator did not have effective engineering controls, policies, programs, or procedures to protect miners on the working section from the hazards of being struck by battery-powered coal haulers and the mine operator had not trained the miners on engineering controls, policies, or procedures.

2. The mine operator did not have effective policies, programs, or procedures that assure all miners properly utilize the personal strobe light issued to the miners and that the miners were trained.

3. The mine operator did not have effective policies, programs, or procedures that assure all miners on the working section had an effective means to communicate their presence on the unit, intended activities, and routes of travel and that the miners were trained.

4. The mine operator did not have effective policies, programs, or procedures that assure all miners on the working section operating mobile equipment adequately communicated to other miners their intentions to move the equipment or change direction of travel and that the miners were trained.

Findings from MSHA's final investigation report, which supersedes the preliminary narrative above.

Activity at time of incident

Walking, Running

Subunit / location

UNDERGROUND

Underground location

FACE

Mining method

Continuous Mining

Accident type

Struck by powered moving object

Source of injury

MINE JEEP,KERSEY,JITNEY

Nature of injury

MULTIPLE INJURIES

Body part affected

MULTIPLE PARTS (MORE THAN ONE MAJOR)

Total mining experience

15 years

Experience at this mine

0 years

Experience in this job

7 years

Degree of injury

FATALITY