Fatality · MSHA Record #219990270001

Maintenance Man fatality at Copeland Mine (Unicorn Mining Inc), KY, December 17, 1998

at 11:15 PM

On December 17, 1998, a maintenance man was fatally injured in a powered haulage accident at Copeland Mine (Unicorn Mining Inc), KY.

Copeland Mine · Underground · Coal

Operator: Unicorn Mining Inc (Horizon Natural Resources Incorporated)

Bell County, KY

Classification POWERED HAULAGE

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

Investigator narrative

THE EMPLOYEE WAS RIDING IN THE FRONT OF THE RAILRUNNER AND WAS SETTING ON HIS LEG. THE EMPLOYEE PUT HIS HAND ON THE BUMPER AND RAISED HIMSELF UP TO MOVE HIS LEG FROM UNDER HIM WHEN THE RAIL RU NNER HIT A BENT PLACE IN THE TRACK CAUSING THE RAIL RUNNER TO SHIFT TO ONE SIDE. THE EMPLOYEE'S HAND SLIPPED OFF THE BUMPER & HE FELL OVER INTO THE FRONT OF THE RAIL RUNNER & IT RAN OVER HIM.

Record details

Activity at time of incident: Mantrip
Subunit / location: UNDERGROUND
Underground location: INTERSECTION
Mining method: Continuous Mining
Accident type: Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object
Source of injury: MINE JEEP,KERSEY,JITNEY
Nature of injury: CRUSHING
Body part affected: MULTIPLE PARTS (MORE THAN ONE MAJOR)
Total mining experience: 0 years
Experience at this mine: 0 years
Experience in this job: 0 years
Degree of injury: FATALITY

Related fatalities

Same operator

June 22, 1988 · Continuous Miner Operator · Unicorn Mining Inc, KY

Same classification

July 6, 2026 · Utility Man · U.S. Lime Company-St. Clair, OK
July 6, 2026 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · Freeport-McMoRan Morenci Inc., AZ
June 26, 2026 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · Le Claire Investments Inc, IA
April 3, 2026 · Section Foreman · Ohio County Coal Resources, Inc., WV
January 8, 2026 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · Ash Grove Cement South Texas LLC, TX

Same year

December 23, 1998 · Laborer · Lhoist North America Of Tennessee, LLC, TN
December 14, 1998 · Continuous Miner Helper · Bowie Resources Limited, CO
December 14, 1998 · Continuous Miner Helper · Bowie Resources Limited, CO
December 7, 1998 · Laborer · Hanson Material Service, IL
December 3, 1998 · Roof Bolter · Capital Coal Corp, 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 219990270001 (the unique key per MSHA Form 7000-1)
Mine record: MSHA Mine Data Retrieval System and search by Mine ID 1517437
All MSHA datasets: Open Government Data program directory covering Accident, Mines, Inspections, Violations, etc.

Source: US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) · Document 219990270001 · Mine ID 1517437 Trainer view →