Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver fatality at Big Oak Plant (Iron Oak Big Oak LLC), TX, August 5, 2023

Improper procedure performed, improper PPE, and not following SOP. *A customer truck driver fell from a large container mounted on the trailer of the truck while descending the container. The customer truck driver died from the injuries on August 7, 2023.

On August 5, 2023, at approximately 8:15 p.m., Mario Jose Meza Garcia, a 44 year-old customer truck driver with several years of truck driving experience, was fatally injured when he fell while descending from a SandBox container (SandBox) mounted on his truck’s trailer after opening the SandBox’s lid. Garcia died from his injuries on August 7, 2023. The accident occurred because the mine operator did not provide site-specific hazard awareness training to the customer truck driver.

1. The mine operator did not provide site-specific hazard awareness training to the customer truck driver.

   Corrective action: The mine operator has taken several steps to ensure the safety of all employees, visitors, sub-contractors, and customer truck drivers. The operator has installed larger hazard awareness signs in both English and Spanish to indicate the rules and hazards for the mine. Additionally, the operator has developed a standard operating procedure on how the hazard awareness training is given to all employees, visitors, sub-contractors, and customer truck drivers. This procedure includes an audit of the customer truck drivers on their knowledge of the hazard awareness training.

Read the full report (PDF)

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

Activity at time of incident

Getting On Or Off Equipment

Subunit / location

MILL OPERATION/PREPARATION PLANT

Accident type

Fall from machine

Source of injury

NONPOWRD VECH-DOLI,WHLBRW

Nature of injury

MULTIPLE INJURIES

Body part affected

HEAD,NEC

Degree of injury

FATALITY

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