Miner

A miner was fatally injured when they were pinned between an air-lock equipment door and a concrete rib barrier located near the shaft bottom.

On Saturday, January 5, 2019, at approximately 3:20 a.m., John D. Ditterline, a 55 year-old contract laborer, died when he was pinned between a pneumatic airlock door and a concrete barrier. The victim was tracing a power cable through the area of the airlock doors and he had passed through an inby set of airlock doors. When he tried to open the outby set of airlock doors, they failed to open. Evidence indicates that he then opened a small sliding access door at the bottom of one of the outby airlock doors. The opening of the sliding door lowered the air pressure and caused the outby airlock doors to suddenly spring open, pinning the victim between one of the outby airlock doors and a concrete barrier. The accident occurred because the mine operator did not design and maintain the pneumatic airlock doors to operate safely in the high air pressure environment where they were located, and did not establish safe work procedures for when the doors did not operate properly. A damaged, permanent ventilation stopping, isolating the area between the airlock doors from the intake air course, created additional pressure causing the doors to not open properly.

1. The pneumatic airlock doors were not designed and maintained to operate safely in the high mine ventilation pressure area near the shaft bottom. A damaged permanent ventilation stopping, which isolated the area between the airlock doors from the intake air course, caused the high mine ventilation pressure on the outby airlock doors.

   Corrective action: The mine operator replaced the pneumatic system with a hydraulic system on the airlock doors that is capable of safely operating the doors in the high mine ventilation pressure area near the shaft bottom.

2. The mine operator had not established safe work procedures when miners encountered fault conditions on the pneumatic airlock doors.

   Corrective action: The mine operator developed and implemented safe work procedures to be followed in the event of fault conditions on pneumatic and hydraulic airlock doors. All miners were trained in these work procedures.

3. The mine operator did not task train the victim with regard to the hazards associated with the pneumatic airlock doors in fault condition.

   Corrective action: Miners have received task training on the safe operating procedures for the hydraulic equipment doors. Also, the hydraulic equipment door operation instructions have become part of the mine operator’s Standardized Traffic Rules.

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

Activity at time of incident

Unknown

Subunit / location

UNDERGROUND

Underground location

LAST OPEN CROSSCUT

Mining method

Longwall

Accident type

Caught in, under or between running or meshing objects

Source of injury

DOORS,INCL UG VENTILATION

Nature of injury

CRUSHING

Body part affected

TRUNK, MULTIPLE PARTS

Total mining experience

28 years

Experience at this mine

0 years

Experience in this job

20 years

Degree of injury

FATALITY