Fatality · MSHA Record #219980350001

Laborer fatality at Upper Big Branch Mine-South (Performance Coal Company), WV, January 23, 1998

at 6:38 PM

On January 23, 1998, a laborer was fatally injured in a falling/sliding/rolling materials accident at Upper Big Branch Mine-South (Performance Coal Company), WV.

Upper Big Branch Mine-South · Underground · Coal

Operator: Performance Coal Company (Massey Energy Company)

Contractor on site: NPK

Raleigh County, WV

Classification FALLING/SLIDING/ROLLING MATERIALS

Type Struck by falling object

Investigator narrative

EE WAS CRUSHED WHEN THE UNDERCAST HE WAS CONSTRUCTING COLLAPSED.

Record details

Activity at time of incident: Timbering, Build Cribs
Subunit / location: UNDERGROUND
Underground location: INTERSECTION
Mining method: Longwall
Accident type: Struck by falling object
Source of injury: STEEL RAIL (ALL KINDS)
Nature of injury: CRUSHING
Body part affected: HEAD,NEC
Total mining experience: 11 years
Experience at this mine: 2 years
Experience in this job: 11 years
Degree of injury: FATALITY

Related fatalities

Same operator

April 5, 2010 · Continuous Miner Operator · Performance Coal Company, WV
April 5, 2010 · Shuttle Car Operator · Performance Coal Company, WV
April 5, 2010 · Bull Gang Foreman · Performance Coal Company, WV
April 5, 2010 · Longwall Operator · Performance Coal Company, WV
April 5, 2010 · Roof Bolter · Performance Coal Company, WV

Same classification

July 11, 2026 · Outside Foreman · Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company LLC, PA
March 3, 2026 · Cement Worker · North American Silica Sand, LLC, TX
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May 1, 2025 · Rotary Bucket Excavator Operator · SP Silica of Atascosa, LLC, TX
January 3, 2025 · Utility Man · WES AGG, LLC, TX

Same year

December 23, 1998 · Laborer · Lhoist North America Of Tennessee, LLC, TN
December 17, 1998 · Maintenance Man · Unicorn Mining Inc, KY
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

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 219980350001 (the unique key per MSHA Form 7000-1)
Mine record: MSHA Mine Data Retrieval System and search by Mine ID 4608436
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Source: US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) · Document 219980350001 · Mine ID 4608436 Trainer view →