Front-End Loader Operator

A miner was fatally injured when material fell from the roof of the mine, striking the cab of the front end loader the miner was operating.

On January 7, 2022, at approximately 2:45 p.m., David Hayden, Jr., a 49 year-old front-end loader operator with 15 years of mining experience, died when an approximately 170-ton rock fell from the mine roof onto the cab of the front-end loader he was operating. He was loading blasted material from the production area at the time of the roof fall. The accident occurred because the mine operator did not use ground support or otherwise control the roof where a geologic fault existed.

1. The accident occurred because the mine operator did not use ground support or otherwise control the roof where a geologic fault existed.

   Corrective action: The mine operator revised the mine’s ground control plan by including a written procedure for the installation of roof bolts. The plan requires eight-foot-long, ⅞-inch-nominal diameter, fully grouted roof bolts to be installed mine-wide on a five-foot by five-foot pattern to within ten feet of a mining face. The mine operator trained all miners on this procedure.

Read the full report (PDF)

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

Activity at time of incident

Front-End Loader

Subunit / location

UNDERGROUND

Underground location

FACE

Mining method

Other

Accident type

Struck by falling object

Source of injury

CAVING ROCK,COAL,ORE,WSTE

Nature of injury

MULTIPLE INJURIES

Body part affected

MULTIPLE PARTS (MORE THAN ONE MAJOR)

Total mining experience

15 years

Experience at this mine

15 years

Experience in this job

8 years

Degree of injury

FATALITY