Electrician

At Approx. 1:20 am EE, a certified electrician, was fatally injured when he was struck by a maintenance scoop in an intersection of #7 entry on #2 unit during the third shift. Present information suggests that the scoop operator did not observe EE in the intersection prior to the incident due to miscommunication.

On Friday, November 30, 2012, at approximately 1:20 a.m., a 27-year-old electrician, Steven A. O’Dell (victim), was fatally injured on the developing No. 2 Section when he was caught between a maintenance scoop and the continuous mining machine. O’Dell was positioned beside the cutting head of the continuous mining machine cleaning bolt holes in preparation for the replacement of the offside cutter drum when the maintenance scoop pinned him against the machine. When the accident occurred, the scoop was traveling battery end first, through the second connecting crosscut outby the face between the No. 6 and 7 entries. The accident occurred because the sight range and distance of the scoop operator was limited due to the terrain of the mine floor, the type and condition of ventilation controls, and the extraneous material placed on top of the rear portion of the maintenance scoop. The mine operator was not using barriers to prevent mobile equipment from operating near miners conducting maintenance work. The mine operator was not requiring that all miners use personal protective equipment, such as wearable strobe light to increase their visibility. General Information The Pocahontas Mine is an underground coal mine located near Rupert in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The mine is operated by White Buck Coal Company, a subsidiary of Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. The mine employs 91 underground coal miners and 6 surface employees. At the time of the accident, the mine had two active sections, each with two continuous mining machines (two separate MMUs), operating with separate splits of ventilating air. Coal is transported from the working faces by shuttle cars, and then transported to the surface via a conveyor belt system. The mine produces bituminous coal from the Pocahontas No. 6 seam using the room and pillar method of mining. The mine is accessed by 5 drift openings and the mining height is approximately 5 feet and 6 inches. The mine produces approximately 5,000 raw tons per day during two production shifts, day and evening, with a midnight shift for maintenance. The principal officers for the mine at the time of the accident were: Prior to the accident, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) had completed the last regular safety and health inspection (E01) on September 27, 2012. The Non-Fatal Days (NFDL) injury incidence rate for the mine in 2011 was 9.77, compared to the National NFDL rate of 3.36.

1. Management stated that strobe lights were available for all miners, but mine management had not required their use.

2. A safety hazard involving visibility existed on the No. 2 Section. The ventilation curtains (fly pads) in use were not constructed completely of transparent material and were not maintained such that scratches, dirt, mud, and other debris did not obstruct the visibility of the machine operator. The geologic conditions of the mine also caused limited visibility in some areas for machine operators due to undulations in the mine floor and the natural dipping of the coal seam, which made it difficult to see miners and other machinery in active areas where mobile equipment was being operated.

3. A modification to the maintenance scoop, which included installation of storage boxes, welder (bonder), etc., on the frame of the maintenance scoop, limited the sight distance of the scoop operator.

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

Activity at time of incident

Electrical Maintenance

Subunit / location

UNDERGROUND

Underground location

INTERSECTION

Mining method

Continuous Mining

Accident type

Struck by powered moving object

Source of injury

MINE JEEP,KERSEY,JITNEY

Nature of injury

CRUSHING

Body part affected

TRUNK, MULTIPLE PARTS

Total mining experience

3 years

Experience at this mine

1 year

Experience in this job

0 years

Degree of injury

FATALITY