Utility Man

Employee was operating front end loader in the coal shed. For unknown reasons employee left the loader and was engulfed in the coal pile near the grizzly bars for the feeding system.

On November 5, 2022, at 4:10 a.m., Thomas Mitchell, a 21 year-old production utility miner with 13 months of experience, died when he was engulfed in a coal stockpile.The accident occurred because the mine operator did not: 1) conduct an adequate workplace examination in the coal shed before miners began work, and 2) prevent miners from positioning themselves over drawholes without platforms or safety lines.GENERAL INFORMATIONCEMEX Construction Materials Atlantic, LLC owns and operates the Knoxville Cement Plant mine. The Knoxville Cement Plant is a surface limestone mine and cement processing facility located in Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee. The mine employs 134 miners and operates three eight-hour shifts, seven days per week. The mine drills and blasts limestone in an open pit quarry, and haul trucks transport the blasted material to a primary crusher. Belt conveyors transport the crushed rock to a secondary crusher and to the cement facility for final processing. The mine’s plant uses a coal-fired kiln to process cement. Coal is brought to the plant by contract coal trucks and is dumped in the coal shed. Miners use a front-end loader to dump coal onto the grizzly, located in the floor of the coal shed. The grizzly is a metal grate designed to slow the flow of coal and prevent large chunks of coal or foreign objects from entering the hopper below. Coal is fed from the hopper onto a belt conveyor and transported to coal silos. The principal management officials at the Knoxville Cement Plant mine at the time of the accident were:Steven Switzer Plant ManagerSarah Wagler Production ManagerJonathan Marlow Health & Safety ManagerTristan Wright Production SupervisorThe Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) completed the last regular safety and health inspection at this mine on September 20, 2022. The 2021 non-fatal days lost incident rate for the Knoxville Cement Plant mine was 2.94, compared to the national average of 1.70 for mines of this type.

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

Activity at time of incident

Walking, Running

Subunit / location

MILL OPERATION/PREPARATION PLANT

Accident type

Caught in, under or between collapsing material or buildings

Source of injury

BROKEN ROCK,COAL,ORE,WSTE

Nature of injury

SUFFOC,SMOK INHILAT,DROWN

Body part affected

BODY SYSTEMS

Total mining experience

1 year

Experience at this mine

1 year

Experience in this job

0 years

Degree of injury

FATALITY