Continuous Miner Operator

Employee was tramming continuous miner from #4 heading toward #1 heading when he was caught between the conveyor boom and the rib. There were no eyewitnesses.

1. The mine operator’s programs, policies, and procedures were not sufficient to prevent anyone from being positioned between the continuous mining machine and the coal rib when tramming the machine from place to place.

   Corrective action: An Action Plan was submitted on March 7, 2014, to MSHA by the mine operator. The provisions of the plan are summarized as follows: Retraining on the topics of Red Zone, pinch points and entrapment awareness was conducted for underground employees. A proximity detection system was installed and operational on the continuous mining machine used on the H section (003 MMU) on March 15, 2014. By March 22, 2014, the continuous mining machine used on the A section also had a proximity detection system. Before the proximity detection systems were installed, the mine operator required a spotter be present to assist with the tramming of the continuous mining machine.

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

Activity at time of incident

Continuous Miner

Subunit / location

UNDERGROUND

Underground location

FACE

Mining method

Continuous Mining

Accident type

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

Source of injury

UNDERGRD MINING MACHINES

Nature of injury

CRUSHING

Body part affected

CHEST (RIBS/BREAST BONE/CHEST ORGNS)

Total mining experience

5 years

Experience at this mine

1 year

Experience in this job

2 years

Degree of injury

FATALITY