Coal Dump Operator fatality at Mine 26 (Old Ben Coal Company), IL, October 6, 1986

at 4:00 PM

On October 6, 1986, a coal dump operator was fatally injured in a hoisting accident at Mine 26 (Old Ben Coal Company), IL.

Mine 26 · Facility · Coal

Operator: Old Ben Coal Company (Zeigler Coal Holding Company)

Franklin County, IL

Classification HOISTING

Type Fall down raise, shaft or manway

Investigator narrative

A BOSS AND A WO9KER GOT ON THE CAGE TO GO BELOW AT THE START OF THE SHIFT AS THE CAGE STARTED ITS DESCENT THE VICTIM THOUGHT HE DETECTED A DISCREPANCY IN THE HOIST AND TRIED TO JUMP TO A BU BUNTIN IN THE S2AFT. NOT BEING ABLE TO HOLD ON, HE F ELL TO HIS DEATH

Record details

Activity at time of incident: Caging, Operate Elevator
Subunit / location: UNDERGROUND
Underground location: VERTICAL SHAFT
Mining method: Longwall
Accident type: Fall down raise, shaft or manway
Source of injury: MINE FLOOR,BOTTOM,FOOTWAL
Nature of injury: MULTIPLE INJURIES
Body part affected: MULTIPLE PARTS (MORE THAN ONE MAJOR)
Experience at this mine: 17 years
Experience in this job: 2 years
Degree of injury: FATALITY

Related fatalities

Same operator

January 23, 1985 · Continuous Miner Operator · Old Ben Coal Company, IL
October 30, 1984 · Bulldozer Operator · Old Ben Coal Company, IN
April 25, 1984 · Laborer · Old Ben Coal Company, WV
July 28, 1983 · Belt Foreman · Old Ben Coal Company, IL

Same classification

August 26, 2025 · Electrician · Marfork Coal Company, LLC, WV
December 3, 2019 · Maintenance Man · Amrize Cement Inc., SC
June 15, 2018 · Welder (Shop) · Freeport-McMoRan Chino Mines Company, NM
January 11, 2015 · Shaftcrew · Newmont USA Limited, NV
June 2, 2014 · Shaftcrew · Silver Opportunity Partners LLC, ID

Same year

December 23, 1986 · Welder (Shop) · Luminant Mining Company LLC, TX
December 20, 1986 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · Luminant Mining Company LLC, TX
December 8, 1986 · Electrician · Black Horse Coal Mining & Sales Inc, WV
December 2, 1986 · Lafarge Corp, TX
November 29, 1986 · Beltman · Westmoreland Coal Company, VA

Verify on MSHA

Every record on this page mirrors what MSHA publishes under its Open Government Data program, refreshed weekly. MSHA does not publish per-accident URLs (the Accidents data is distributed as a single bulk file), so this is how to retrieve the source for the specific record below:

Accident record: Download MSHA Accidents.zip then search for Document number 219862870001 (the unique key per MSHA Form 7000-1)
Mine record: MSHA Mine Data Retrieval System and search by Mine ID 1100590
All MSHA datasets: Open Government Data program directory covering Accident, Mines, Inspections, Violations, etc.

Source: US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) · Document 219862870001 · Mine ID 1100590 Trainer view →