Cargill SaltMining Incidents in 2010

Moved North skip to surface for Chippy test trip. When beginning Test trip for #1 hoist would not reset.

Intermittent problems with the hoist's brake caused the hoist to be shut down for a repair. The three-way valve on the SOBO Unit was replaced.

While hoisting salt, the South skip dumped the load of salt and one of the pedestals for the dump arms broke. The dump gate opened while it traveled down the shaft and got wedged in the shaft. The damage caused the skip to be changed out.

#1 salt hoist pinion brake failing to release properly causing the hoist to 'kick out'. The hydraulic pump was changed and the SOBO valves cleaned out.

West motor blower experienced an electrical short in a junction box.

SOBO was cycling rapidly, North skip loaded, hoist rolled, E-stop activated, Hoist in track limit.

Sobo brake fault wouldn't reset. Tied right side Sobo control into left side UPS backup. North UPS bypassed to South UPS.

Skip door wouldn't close and skip was not allowed to leave the headframe. The gate mechanism was cleaned and a build-up of material was removed. The gate closed and the system was retuned to normal operations.

The production skip tripped to manual mode. It was restarted several times, but kept tripping out. A supervisor was called to the scene who decided that the skip would be down for a while. A mine evacuation was called at 2:45 pm. The responsible party for the hoist electrical system was called. Problem was fixed which allowed miners to return to work at 3:35 pm.

Miners went to board the service cage to exit the mine. They noticed the man door was missing at 9:00 am. Called a mine evacuation at 9:05 am. The door was repaired and the shaft was inspected. The hoist was operational at 11:15 am and miners returned to work.

A west drive communication fault caused the hoist to kick out. Normal reset procedures would not allow resumption of operation. Component was replaced and hoist returned to operational status.

Four power lines providing power to production hoist failed causing us to lose power to our production hoist. The mine was evacuated and power was restored at 10:20 pm the same day.

Power line feeding production hoist failed causing a loss of power to the hoist. MSHA, State of Ohio, and CPP were all notified and CPP repaired line.

Production Hoist tripped when 1 phase of 4160V feed was lost near the FC building. Cleveland Public Power was called and they repaired the 4160 V feed. Test trips were run and employees were sent back into the mine.

Pop off valve on the air tank, located in the #1 Hoist Pit failed.

The header on the cage needed to have a flange welded on. This task must be done in the shop area. The doors to the cage can not be secured without the header in place. The header was repaired and replaced. The hoist was operational at 2:30 and employees returned to the mine after the test run was complete.

East Autron drive communication board bad. Changed board to return to normal operations.

West hoist motor was deenergized to replace brushes on the motor. Upon reenergizing at 10:20 am, it was found that there was no power to the PLC controls. Mine evacuation began and MSHA notified about 10:35am. It was found that the uninterruptable power supply (UPS) was bad in the control power line. This unit was replaced and the hoist was put back into operation at 10:55 a.m.

Was at the back of the truck checking load and fell of the back--he apparently caught his leg between the back doors and crushed some tissues--x-rays show NO broken bones--He will return to work on 8-06-2010.

Employee was walking up entry decline #20 near the #1 crosscut to retrieve survey materials. He slipped on the floor and fell, fracturing both bones in his lower right leg.

Around 6:25 the driver side rear wheel of the gator became dislodged causing the vehicle to turn sharply to the left. The gator struck the rib and ejected the employee, with his right thigh striking the vehicle and fracturing his femur.

On March 24, 2010 at approximately 6:05 pm the 150 ton bin collapsed, falling onto a truck below. Employee was in the bin operator's booth and was injured when the booth collapsed with the bin.

While exiting the loader the employee tweaked his knee. That night his knee swelled up and he began to experience pain. He was taken to the doctor the next day. No restrictions were placed on the employee, but he was referred to a specialist for further diagnosis and an MRI which found he had a torn meniscus. The employee was placed on restricted duty as of 4/16/10.

Employee was negotiating a corner in a John Deere Gator on a slope underground and the right tires climbed the berm guarding the right rib after turning too short. The Gator turned over on it's side and the employee's left leg was injured in the accident.

While making a right hand turn the door of operator's pickup opened and his balance was thrown off. Grasping the wheel, as his body shifted, the truck was turned to the left and impacted a pillar. Upon impact the operator fell to the ground.

The employee was seated on a park bench smoking when he leaned back on the back legs and the supports failed causing him to fall backwards. The employee hit his head on a concrete post knocking his hard hat off and then made contact with the pavement. He was put on restrictions for one shift and given prescription medication for the pain.

While scaling 1/9/2010, an employee brought down loose scale that bounced & struck his leg. First Aid was given, an 'abrasion' was reported, but no Medical Aid was sought. Two weeks later (1/26/2010) the wound became infected & required medical aid including a prescription making it a reportable incident. We adjusted the miner's duty to allow for additional care while healing.

Employee had no particular point during his shift where he felt any pull or pain. He noted that he was pulling up on a wrench all night while changing clips in the production shaft. He went straight to sleep after leaving work and woke with the pain. He has been diagnosed with a incarserated hernia that will be surgically repaired on Thursday January 21st.

Employee was holding two boards (for alignment purposes) to be nailed together with air nailer. Hands were approximately 18"" from point to be nailed. Air nailer double shot and the second nail struck employee in the left index finger between the hand and first joint in finger. Nail was removed from finger by the doctor and employee returned to work. Nail did not contact bone.

Crew was gathering tools and materials to start job. EE was returning to tool trailer for additional tools when he walked to close to an elevator cover which had been previously removed and placed on the ground. As ee passed by the cover, the flange on the cover caught on his pants, cutting pants and right leg.

Employee was in the process of changing a cylinder on the face drill. Upon moving the cylinder to reposition it, the cylinder unexpectedlty swung pinching the employees finger between the cylinder and the boom of the drill.

Employee was tramming 106 bolter from the basket when the steering controls froze while tramming south. The hydraulic spool that controls this steering action jammed casuing the failure of the system. The employee's back struck the side of the basket when the steering cylinder reached the stops. The employee was treated and written a prescription for a muscle relaxer.