Section Foreman

Employee was in the process of conducting his pre-shift exam on the section when he was found by another miner. He was pinned between a fallen rib and shuttle car that had been parked in the crosscut. The incident was not witnessed. Material that dislodged from the rib appeared to have struck the foreman on the right side of his body which resulted in fatal injuries.

At approximately 5:00 a.m. on Monday, March 16, 2015, Section Foreman/Mine Examiner, David William Brummitte (Victim) was fatally injured while conducting a pre-shift examination. The victim was last seen performing the preshift examination duties on the 003-0 Mechanized Mining Unit (MMU) before being found trapped between fallen rib material and the frame of a shuttle car. The accident occurred because the mine operator failed to support and/or control the mine ribs where miners are required to work or travel.

1. The mine operator failed to support and/or control the mine ribs where miners were required to work and travel on the 003-0 MMU. Even though it was obvious that the reactive rib control methods on the 2D panel at the time of the fatal accident were ineffective to protect miners from rib fall hazards, the mine operator failed to develop and implement an effective proactive rib control program, policy, and/or procedure. Because of this, the mine operator failed to support and/or control the deteriorating rib conditions to prevent the reoccurrence of rib hazards.

   Corrective action: The mine operator revised the approved Roof Control Plan for this mine to include a mandatory rib bolting pattern to support the mine ribs to ensure the miners working in the underground portions of this mine are not exposed to the hazards of loose mine ribs. The operator implemented the provisions of this plan revision by installing rib support bolts in all mine ribs on the active 003-0 MMU prior to resuming production. Because of this, the ribs were effectively controlled while retreat mining was completed on the 2D panel. All miners were trained in the provisions of the revised roof control plan.

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

Activity at time of incident

Environmental Tests Or Checks

Subunit / location

UNDERGROUND

Underground location

FACE

Mining method

Continuous Mining

Accident type

Struck by falling object

Source of injury

CAVING ROCK,COAL,ORE,WSTE

Nature of injury

CRUSHING

Body part affected

MULTIPLE PARTS (MORE THAN ONE MAJOR)

Total mining experience

10 years

Experience at this mine

2 years

Experience in this job

0 years

Degree of injury

FATALITY