All MSHA-reportable accidents at Cargill Salt operations in 2008. Fatalities appear first.
Production hoist tripped to manual at 7:05 am 17 ' from the collar. Notified MSHA at 7:30 am. Evacuated the mine at 7:35 am. Was able to reset in manual and pull the load. Ran test trips on the hoist. Hoist operational and cancelled the evac at 7:40 am. Case # 1-59024526
Automatic hoist tripped to manual operation. After cycling power, the hoist rest. Ran several test trips and put back into automatic operation.
Hoist operator testing production hoist prior to hoisting product. Hoist tripped on # 2 converter fault. Shut down # 2 converter, started # 1 converter, made several test trips, all fine. Did not evacuate.
Hoist failure due to hoist drive plan card (interface). Failed at 6:15am called MSHA 6:22am report # 1-58519631. Evacuation complete by 6:56am. Card replaced and hoist tested, fully functional by 9:00am, back to work.
On 11/16/08 two supervisors entered the mine via the production shaft. When they came out of the airlocks they noticed there was a burnt smell in the air. They noticed Three John Deere Gators and One Kawasaki Four Seater Mule had burned completly to the frame. The fire started and burned when no one was in the mine, and was caused by an electrical short
During the normal pinion brake drag test, the hoist kicked out and would not reset. The pinion brake wear switches were adjusted & a broken wire reattached to the versa valve in south brake panel. Operational at 4:30 am.
Brakes were not holding and functioning properly on the secondary hoist. We evacuated the mine, repaired brakes on the secondary hoist around 8:45 am.
The brakes are not holding on the steam hoist. Hoist will be taken out of service until brakes are repaired. This will not affect our facility, we still have two shafts up and running to get employees in and out of the mine.
A lug on an U/G transformer shorted out causing a GFI on surface to fail. Started evacuation. Changed GFI to get Hoist operational again. Test Trips and all OK at 1:15 a.m. Talked to James Petrie.
Hoist #3 brought skip to surface landing and kicked out. Hoist controls would not reset, called MSHA, began evacuation of workers U/G. Trouble shooting revealed faulty (?) axis servo (PLC) card. Changed card and reset hoist. Tested OK.
A report of the hoist brake developed a leak. Supervisor notified MSHA @ 7:53pm after initiating evacuation. Hoist repaired 8:15pm. Employees return to work.
Employee reports hoist drive problems to supervisor. He notifies MSHA @ 10:40pm of hoist problems adn initiates evacuation. Problem found (blown fuses) and repairs were made and completed at 6:30am 8/22/2008. Employees return to mine 6:40am.
Rupture in hydraulic hose on west pinion brake. Severe enough to warrant an immediate shut down to change hydraulic hose.
Following our previous evacuation the production hoist kicked out with same fault as indicated earlier. MSHA was notified immediately and mine was evacuated. Tachometer was replaced again and wiring was repaired. Employees returned to the mine after test runs were completed.
Production hoist tripped out in automatic due to tachometer fault. MSHA notified by phone at 6:48 AM and mine evacuated immediatley. Employees returned to work at 7:30 AM after tachometer was replaced and test runs were complete.
Multiple electrical components burned up; possible power surge, shorted switch.
Intermittent fault in master relay caused irregular operating conditions into next day. Second egress from mine was never compromised,'Chippy' and #3 remained available & in service.(Hoist taken out of regular operation as mine-wide maintenance shutdown takes effect at end of 1st shift August 1, 2008. Opportunities to perform maintenance and upgrades.)
HMI failure at #3 Hoist, would not reboot completely, hoist would not operate consistantly. Started evacuation through #1 shaft. Rebooted HMI, PLC and DHS hoist did reset, but functionality was inconsistant still. Changed HMI computer unit function was restored, test trips and return to service at 04:45a.m.
During the morning startup the production hoist kicked out. It was reset and moved, but then kicked out again. The hoist then could not be restarted because of an overloaded motor lead. An evacuation was called at 5:25 am because of loss of the secondary escapeway. MSHA emergency notification was called at 5:29 am.
Underwind fault, recent hoist automation ""bugs"" being discovered and corrected.
#1 Hoist stopped and would not reset. UPS for the PLC system failure causing hoist to go down. UPS replaced, hoist recalibrated, reset, checked, balanced, tested OK. Two means of egress were still operational (#3 Hoist and ""Chippy"")
Motor starter that feeds hydraulic brake pump motor failed closed. Pump built up pressure, by-pass valve activated, dropped drum brakes (ON) stopping hoist. Men were lowered to landing and evacuated through secondary shaft. Motor starter, motor, pump and valve all changed. Operational at 6:30 p.m. MSHA notified.
The automatic operation of the service hoist tripped at approximately 12:50 am due to a failure in the cable gate switch. MSHA was notified by the emergency reporting hotline within the required time frame. There were no injuries or entrapments. The gate switch cable was repaired and the hoist could run automatic by approximately 2:00 am.
Employee was walking down a set of stairs in the surface mill building. Upon reaching the last tread on the staircase the employee's right heel on his boot became stuck and caused employee to fall forward and land on his right knee. Employee tore his right quadricep tendon in his knee.
Employee was moving a fireproof filing cabinet in the HR office. After moving the cabinet the employee stated he felt pain in his groin area.
Employee had fueled LHD, stepped off LHD onto back bumper of fuel truck, and signaled the LHD operator to leave. As LHD pulled away, injured employee fell between tires. Left forearm was caught under front tire.
Employee worked throughout the Mill Building, walking up and down the stairway replacing fire extinguishers, much of the shift. Near the end of the shift, employee was loading a large box of paper trash onto a pallet. While lifting the box, the load shifted and box started coming apart.
Employee opened door to check weather. He leaned on a removeable handrail that was not seated properly and it gave way, causing him to fall 4' to the ground, face first.
Employee was removing troughing rollers on # 210 belt in order to change the rails. While removing the rollers, he pinched his left ring finger between the roller and the rail.
While dismantling exhaust equipment to facilitate the removal of an engine, a socket wrench slipped from the nut. This caused the employee's elbow to move backwards allowing it to strike a piece of angle iron with sufficient force to make a small cut above the left elbow, requiring stitches.
Employee stepped off the concrete slab in back of the block press and his right knee popped. Slab was approximately 8"" in height.