Groundman

Miner removed an area guard and got entangled in a tail pulley.

On February 8, 2021, at approximately 1:15 p.m., Gregory L. Solomon, a 38-year-old ground man with approximately eight months of mining experience, died when he became entangled in the self-cleaning tail pulley of a belt conveyor that was not guarded. The accident occurred because the mine operator: 1) did not assure that the miner was working under the observation of an experienced miner until he completed his training, 2) did not assure guards were in place while machinery was operating, or 3) did not assure that power was off and equipment was blocked against hazardous motion before performing maintenance on machinery.

1. The mine operator did not assure that the miner received the minimum required training to safely perform his job, or that the miner was observed by an experienced miner while working until he had completed such training.

   Corrective action: The mine operator has installed appropriate equipment guards on all three of the belt conveyors enclosed by the area guard at the accident scene, and has completed a review of all other equipment guarding on the mine site.

2. The mine operator did not assure that power to equipment was off and equipment was blocked against hazardous motion before performing maintenance.

   Corrective action: The mine operator developed a new written procedure for cleaning and performing maintenance on conveyor belts. The procedure requires the power to the conveyor belt to be turned off, locked and tagged out, and tested to assure power is off before guards are removed and cleaning or maintenance is performed. The mine operator retrained all miners in the procedure. The mine operator has provided locks and tags for the miners’ use.

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

Activity at time of incident

Handling Supplies Or Material

Subunit / location

MILL OPERATION/PREPARATION PLANT

Accident type

Caught in, under or between running or meshing objects

Source of injury

BELT CONVEYORS

Nature of injury

CRUSHING

Body part affected

TRUNK, MULTIPLE PARTS

Total mining experience

0 years

Experience at this mine

0 years

Experience in this job

0 years

Degree of injury

FATALITY