Lw Propman

At approximately 10:15am an employee received fatal crushing injuries as he was helping move a Longwall power center. The fatal injuries occurred when the employee was crushed between the power center and rib as the power center was being moved into a cross cut.

On Tuesday, September 11, 2012, at approximately 10:23 a.m., a 28-year-old miner was fatally injured when he was crushed between a large power center and the coal rib. The power center was being moved by two large, articulating diesel forklifts, one pulling and the other pushing. While the lead forklift was being repositioned with the use of hydraulic lifting and steering controls, the victim was located between the power center and the coal rib. This process caused unexpected sliding movement of the power center, pinning the victim against the coal rib. The size of the power center prevented the fork lift operators and a foreman, positioned near the operator’s compartment of one of the forklifts, from seeing the victim’s location. Verbal communication was also hampered by noise from the diesel engines on the forklifts. Mine management had a General Equipment Operation Procedure in place at the time of the accident to follow when moving large mining equipment/components in the mine. The Shoal Creek Mine is owned and operated by Drummond Company, Inc. The mine is located in Walker County, Alabama, near the community of Oakman. The mine provides employment for 661 persons and operates seven days per week, three shifts per day. Production is conducted on an alternating schedule of five days one week and six days the next. The mine produces an average of 3,410 clean tons of coal per day. The miners are represented by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). The mine operates in the Blue Creek coal seam, with a mining height that ranges from seven to twelve feet. When the accident occurred, the mine was operating five mechanized mining units (MMUs) which were four continuous mining machine units and one longwall unit. The principal officials for the mine at the time of the accident were: A Regular Safety and Health Inspection (E01) had been completed on June 27, 2012, and an E01 inspection was ongoing at the time of the accident. The Non-Fatal Days Lost (NFDL) injury incidence rate for the mine for calendar year 2011 was 6.00, compared to the national NFDL rate of 3.36.

1. Mine management had a General Equipment Operation Procedure in place at the time of the accident to follow when moving large mining equipment/components in the mine. Management did not consider that the large equipment/components being moved prevented the forklift operator(s) from seeing ground personnel in close proximity to the object being moved. Additionally, noise produced by operating engines of the equipment normally used to move these objects limited verbal communications. Because mine management did not consider these visibility and communication hazards, persons in close proximity to large equipment were not properly trained.

   Corrective action: Mine management developed and implemented a new procedure to be used when moving large pieces of equipment in the mine. A safeguard, which lists these new procedures, was issued by MSHA to require certain procedures to be followed when moving large pieces of equipment from, or to, any location in the mine. All mine personnel were trained in the new procedure and requirements of the safeguard. A record of the training was made and provided to MSHA.

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

Activity at time of incident

Move Non-Self-Propelled Equip

Subunit / location

UNDERGROUND

Underground location

VERTICAL SHAFT

Mining method

Longwall

Accident type

Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

Source of injury

TRANSFORMERS,CONVERTERS

Nature of injury

CRUSHING

Body part affected

MULTIPLE PARTS (MORE THAN ONE MAJOR)

Total mining experience

5 years

Experience at this mine

5 years

Experience in this job

1 year

Degree of injury

FATALITY