Maintenance Man fatality at HOCKLEY MINE (United Salt Hockley, LLC), TX, September 26, 2014
On September 26, 2014, a maintenance man was fatally injured in a powered haulage accident at HOCKLEY MINE (United Salt Hockley, LLC), TX.
The accident occurred while performing maintenance on a forklift. Injury occurred when the forklift apparently moved, crushing the miner between forklift and wooden support column. Specific details are currently under investigation.
On September 26, 2014, Mark G. Benoit, Mechanic, age 55, was killed while performing maintenance on a forklift in a mill building. Benoit was adjusting the directional solenoid on the transmission from the ground when the forklift began to move forward, pinning him between a wooden support pillar and the forklift’s Falling Object Protective Structure (FOPS). The accident occurred due to management’s failure to ensure that persons performed repairs and maintenance on a forklift with the power turned off and the equipment blocked against hazardous motion. The forklift’s engine was running when the operator left the seat and performed maintenance on the directional solenoid that controls the transmission. Additionally, the parking brake was not set and the wheels were not chocked to prevent movement. The victim was not effectively protected against hazardous motion.
-
The accident occurred due to management’s failure to ensure that persons performed repairs and maintenance on a forklift with the power turned off and the equipment blocked against hazardous motion. The unblocked forklift exposed the victim to hazards associated with the potential movement of the machine.
Corrective action: Management developed safe work procedures for blocking mobile equipment against hazardous motion before persons perform maintenance. Miners were tasked trained to follow these new procedures.
Findings from MSHA's final investigation report, which supersedes the preliminary narrative above.
- Activity at time of incident
- Machine Maintenance
- Subunit / location
- SURFACE AT UNDERGROUND
- Accident type
- Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object
- Source of injury
- FORKLIFTS,STACKERS,TRCTR
- Nature of injury
- CRUSHING
- Body part affected
- TRUNK, MULTIPLE PARTS
- Total mining experience
- 1 year
- Experience at this mine
- 1 year
- Experience in this job
- 1 year
- Degree of injury
- FATALITY
Related fatalities
Same classification
- July 6, 2026 · Utility Man · U.S. Lime Company-St. Clair, OK
- July 6, 2026 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · Freeport-McMoRan Morenci Inc., AZ
- June 26, 2026 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · Le Claire Investments Inc, IA
- April 3, 2026 · Section Foreman · Ohio County Coal Resources, Inc., WV
- January 8, 2026 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · Ash Grove Cement South Texas LLC, TX
Same year
- December 29, 2014 · Warehouseman · Zeotech Corporation, TX
- December 16, 2014 · Maintenance Man · Highland Mining Company LLC, KY
- December 1, 2014 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · MGQ Aggregates Incorporated, OH
- November 26, 2014 · Miner · U. S. Silica Company, IL
- November 25, 2014 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · Edwards Sand & Stone, PA
Every record on this page mirrors what MSHA publishes under its Open Government Data program, refreshed weekly. MSHA does not publish per-accident URLs (the Accidents data is distributed as a single bulk file), so this is how to retrieve the source for the specific record below:
- Final investigation report: Read MSHA's final report
-
Accident record:
Download MSHA Accidents.zip
then search for Document number
220142720036(the unique key per MSHA Form 7000-1) -
Mine record:
MSHA Mine Data Retrieval System
and search by Mine ID
4102478 - All MSHA datasets: Open Government Data program directory covering Accident, Mines, Inspections, Violations, etc.