Cargill SaltMining Incidents in 2021

The Hoist Operator was preforming skip checks when they discovered that the track limit switch was not working properly.

Contractor was servicing the brake pump on the hoist instead of the pump for the thruster brake. Thruster brake has its own brake pump, test trips rectified the problem. Evac called off before bringing people out of the mine.

When performing production hoist daily checks the hoist consistently failed static and drag tests.

Test trip was being done, track limit exceeded, NIDEC was on site to diagnose, troubleshoot and change out motor encoder and adjust parameters on drive, #3 hoist back up and running within 1.5 hours

Power brown out from NYSEG power supply, they were updating their system and power to our local grid was affected. #3 skip kicked out, reset, men brought to surface, ran test trips, all tested good.

#1 salt production skip kicked out, cage stuck. Inspection reveled pin was missing that held safety dog to skip. Dog did deploy correctly to stop cage travel as it should have.

#3 hoist tripped and would not reset because the west brake was not functioning properly. Through troubleshooting it was found that the west brake switch plunger was stuck in the open position.

While running the #3 hoist, the hoist tripped out. A magnet proximity switch was found to have shorted out within #3 shaft 90' below the collar.

A guide wheel on the #3 mancage broke, therefore the #3 hoist was down until repairs were completed. Upon completion of repairs, a shaft inspection was performed to ensure everything was in order and functioning properly.

#3 Hoist skip and gate proximity switch had malfunctioned. Evac all ee's out #2, all out safely. Repairs completed at 3:15pm.

Production hoist brakes set on a pressure fault and would not release.

Employee was installing a gate with another employee. The employee lifted one end of the gate and was holding it up while another employee was installing the hinge pins. The gate fell out of the hinges causing the gate to fall, this caused the employee holding it to twist their lower back.

EE was walking down a set of stairs and turned right at the bottom landing of the stairs and felt a pain in their right knee.

An employee was in the process of shoveling some spilled salt beneath a conveyor belt transfer. While pushing a shovel through the salt, they felt a sharp pain in their lower back. The pain made it difficult to maneuver and the employee decided they needed to seek medical attention.

The designated person called for the cage to pick the people up from the work deck. The designated person failed to notify the hoist person the exact location of the work deck while it was on approach. Therefore causing an employee to be in line of the landing area, the bottom of the cage brushed EE and pushed IE away from landing area.

Employee was driving a lube truck in a tramway underground. They hit a bump causing the top of their hard hat to hit the FOPS of the cab. This caused the employee to have neck pain. The employee was taken to the clinic and diagnosed with a cervical strain.

An employee was in a high lift pulling wire vertically from a spool located at ground level. After pulling the wire, the employee felt that their left shoulder was sore. A week later the pain had gotten worse, making the employee want to have their shoulder examined.

While removing a drilling hose from the flood shaft hole, the hose pressurized due to being capped off. When the cap was removed and pressure relieved, the cap flew off and struck a nearby employee in the ankle. The employee had a small abrasion wound in the ankle and ankle soreness the following day.

While entering the basket of a powder truck the employee reached over with left hand to close the lift arm. During this EE's hand slipped allowing for EE's left pinky finger to slide into a pinch point at the bottom of the lift arm. This resulted in the left pinky finger tip to become fractured and a laceration resulting in stitches.

Two maintenance employees were working on No 5 air door to remove the two bottom sections that had been previously damaged. While removing the rollers the door unexpectedly fell impacting the employees right index finger causing a laceration. The employee was taken for medical attention and received several stitches in the right index finger.

While performing repair work on a forklift, a maintenance employee pinched fingers on both hands between the first and second stages of the mast. The employee received 5 small (<1/2 inch) lacerations that required medical treatment. EE was released to return to work the same day.

Employee was using a drill press to drill out a hole larger in a bearing housing. The bearing housing was in a vice on the drill press table. The bit caught in the hole and pulled the housing out of the vice, striking the employees thumb causing a laceration, resulting in 4 stitches.