Belt Foreman

The belt Foreman & 1 other employee made a belt splice on #7 mainline belt. Belt came on & foreman was dragged approx. 6-7 crosscuts before the belt stopped by a person making belt checks.

On Wednesday, March 28, 2018, at approximately 2:15 a.m., Hubert Grubbs Jr., a 29-year-old Belt Foreman with 8 years of mining experience, was fatally injured when a conveyor belt on which he was working started unexpectedly. Grubbs became entangled in the conveyor belt clamp ratchet chain and was fatally injured when the conveyor belt started. At the time of the accident, Grubbs and a coworker were splicing the conveyor belt. The accident occurred because the operator allowed employees to engage in repair and maintenance work on a conveyor belt without implementing proper lock-out and tag-out procedures to ensure the electrical power was off. The conveyor belt started because a mine examiner improperly repaired a remote cable and belt switch wires, which he had damaged during his examination. The mine examiner had not been trained to repair this electrical circuit.

1. The mine operator performed repair and maintenance work on a conveyor belt, and did not properly lock and tag-out to ensure the electrical power was off while the work was being performed. The operator was splicing the No. 7 conveyor belt using only the belt switch to stop the conveyor belt. The mine operator did not have appropriate lock and tag-out policies and procedures.

   Corrective action: The mine operator submitted a written action plan, which was reviewed and acknowledged by MSHA. On April 4, 2018, the operator adopted the action plan as company policy and put it in the training plan. The policy contains the following provisions:

2. The operator performed an improper repair of the remote cable and belt switch wires, which had been damaged during the on-shift examination. The repair caused the belt to start. The mine examiner had not been trained to repair the electrical circuit.

   Corrective action: The electrical circuit was repaired by a miner who was qualified to perform this repair. The mine operator retrained all miners that repairs and maintenance on any electrical circuit must be performed by a qualified electrician.

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

Activity at time of incident

Conveyor Belt

Subunit / location

UNDERGROUND

Underground location

INTERSECTION

Mining method

Continuous Mining

Accident type

Caught in, under or between running or meshing objects

Source of injury

BELT CONVEYORS

Nature of injury

MULTIPLE INJURIES

Body part affected

TRUNK, MULTIPLE PARTS

Total mining experience

8 years

Experience at this mine

1 year

Experience in this job

3 years

Degree of injury

FATALITY