Electrician fatality at Freedom (Copperas Coal Corp), WV, July 26, 1995

at 8:00 PM

On July 26, 1995, an electrician was fatally injured in an electrical accident at Freedom (Copperas Coal Corp), WV.

Freedom · Underground · Coal

Operator: Copperas Coal Corp (Gary D Spurlock)

Nicholas County, WV

Classification ELECTRICAL

Type Contact with electrical current

Investigator narrative

VICTIM APPARENTLY TRIED TO LIFT A GROUND MONITOR LEAD TO OPEN THE HIGH VOLTAGE BREAKER TO THE UNDERGROUND POWER SYSTEM AND CAME INTO CONTACT WITH AT LEAST ONE PHASE OF 4160 VAC THAT SUPPLIED P OWER TO THE BELT TRANSFORMER IN WHICH HE WAS WORKING.

Record details

Activity at time of incident: Electrical Maintenance
Subunit / location: UNDERGROUND
Underground location: INTERSECTION
Mining method: Conventional Stoping
Accident type: Contact with electrical current
Source of injury: TRANSFORMERS,CONVERTERS
Nature of injury: ELECT SHOCK,ELECTROCUTION
Body part affected: BODY SYSTEMS
Total mining experience: 34 years
Experience at this mine: 5 years
Experience in this job: 17 years
Degree of injury: FATALITY

Related fatalities

Same operator

September 18, 1999 · Roof Bolter · Copperas Coal Corp, WV
March 12, 1999 · Shuttle Car Operator · Copperas Coal Corp, WV

Same classification

September 13, 2025 · Electrician · Tower Rock Stone Company, MO
July 26, 2025 · Electrician · Stillwater Mining Company, MT
August 9, 2024 · Master Mechanic · Buzzi Unicem USA, TX
May 8, 2024 · Beltman · US Aggregates Inc, IN
February 6, 2023 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · Rogers Group Inc, AR

Same year

December 27, 1995 · Laborer · American Borate Company, NV
December 24, 1995 · Truck Driver · Oracle Ridge Mining Partners, AZ
December 23, 1995 · Continuous Miner Operator · D-Max Energy Inc, WV
December 22, 1995 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · American Aggregates Of Michigan, MI
December 21, 1995 · Beltman · Noseman Branch Mining Inc, WV

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 219952190002 (the unique key per MSHA Form 7000-1)
Mine record: MSHA Mine Data Retrieval System and search by Mine ID 4607699
All MSHA datasets: Open Government Data program directory covering Accident, Mines, Inspections, Violations, etc.

Source: US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) · Document 219952190002 · Mine ID 4607699 Trainer view →