Mine Manager fatality at Wooten Sand & Gravel, Inc., AR, August 4, 2022

Employee was servicing a dozer alone with the machine running & it was somehow put in gear & started moving. Before the employee could get out of the way the machine trapped employee's foot & started pulling employee in between the track & the cab, which led to employee being run over by the machine. This is our best guess as there were no actual witnesses to the event.

On August 4, 2022, at approximately 3:45 p.m., Jimmy Wooten Sr., a 67 year-old mine owner with over 14 years of mining experience, died when he was struck by a bulldozer while performing maintenance at the mine's maintenance shop. The accident occurred because the mine operator did not block the bulldozer against hazardous motion before performing maintenance.

1. The mine operator did not block the bulldozer against hazardous motion before performing maintenance.

   Corrective action: The mine operator developed and implemented new written procedures that require all miners to: 1) set the parking brake on mobile equipment when parked and when repairs or maintenance is being performed, and 2) block or use other means to prevent unintended motion of mobile equipment should testing or activation be required to the extent that adjustments or testing cannot be performed without motion or activation.

Read the full report (PDF)

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

Activity at time of incident

Machine Maintenance

Subunit / location

STRIP, QUARY, OPEN PIT

Accident type

Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

Source of injury

SURFACE MINING MACHINES

Nature of injury

CRUSHING

Body part affected

MULTIPLE PARTS (MORE THAN ONE MAJOR)

Total mining experience

14 years

Experience at this mine

14 years

Experience in this job

14 years

Degree of injury

FATALITY

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