All MSHA-reportable accidents at Morton Salt Div/Morton International Inc operations in 2009. Fatalities appear first.
A brake switch malfunctioned on Koepe mancage. After switch replacement and weight testing, mancage still wasn't stopping at upper level properly. Trouble-shooting continued. Brake pads re-adjusted. No injuries & no other problems.
Vibration cause a wire to break on second stage contactor resulting in loss of second gear. the mine was evacuated at 3:52 am and complete at 4:05 a.m. The hoist was repaired at 4:15 a.m. and the hoist was tested. Miners returned u/g at 4:20 a.m.
Lower limit switch on Koepe man hoist failed. Problems incurred locating correct switch for replacement so mine was evacuated until problem could be corrected- no injuries; no other problems. Hoist back in service prior to following shift.
The #2 Hoist was shut down to replace a broken hydraulic gage. Miners were evacuated at 11:00 a.m. and evacuation was completed at 11:11 a.m. The hoist was tested and miners returned underground at 1:30 p.m.
Power outage occurred in the power and production department due to a tripped breaker. Evacuation started at 10:31 a.m. was completed at 10:41 a.m. The breaker was reset, the hoist was tested and the miners returned underground at 10:57 a.m. and mining operations resumed.
A roof fall was found in the main return (13 North secondary escapeway) near a previous fall area. Fall was approx. 75-100' X 40' X 0-8'. No equipment or personnel involved. Persons brought outby and rehab work process began.
Due to an electrical short , the magnetic upper limit switch failed, causing the access cage to become inoperable. Two new switches were installed before operations could continue (one was faulty). Mine evacuated. No injuries; no problems. 37 persons underground. Back in operation at 2:50pm.
Fall of ground (approx 95' X 45' X 0-5') occurred in 28E/8-9B of return escapeway, blocking travel. Strata was salt, crystal salt, & shale. Area bolted during initial mining w/ 8' point anchor bolts. No injuries or equipment involved. Persons were evacuated outby fall area.
Lost SWEPCO power on both hoists due to component failure on SWEPCO side. Miners were not evacuated due to the unavailability of an electrician to operate the emergency generator. SWEPCO power was restored at 6:08 AM and the hoist was tested and returned to service. Miners returned to the surface at the 7:00 AM shift change.
The west brake switch on the Koepe access cage malfunctioned. Troubleshooting finally determined the problem and the switch was replaced. Mine evacuated; 27 persons in mine. No injuries or further problems. Third shift did not enter mine. Hoist back in service at approximately 12:50 - 1:00 am.
During shift change (from 1st to 2nd) the Koepe man cage malfunctioned. Investigation revealed brake switch adjustment and cannister change needed. 8 persons in mine evacuated via production shaft. No injuries; or other problems.
Due to mistaken procedure by electrician following bottom switch replacement on Koepe access cage, the PC and lilly controller got out of ""sync"" causing malfunction. Mine evacuated via prod. shaft. No injuries/no problems. Koepe operational at 10:45am. Forty-three persons in mine at time.
Termination on second set of hoist contacts broke loose from vibration causing hoist to malfunction. The mine was evacuated at 11:33 pm and completed at 11:47 pm. The hoist was repaired and tested and miners returned underground at 12:06 am.
An unknown electrical problem rendered the Production hoist inoperable. There were no persons underground at the time. Trouble-shooting revealed a contactor linkage had gone out of adjustment; back in operation at 12:45pm.
An unknown electrical problem caused the Koepe access cage to become inoperable. Mine evacuated; no injuries. Troubleshooting into mid-day revealed brake caliper switch had gone bad; back in service at 1:00 pm.
The pinion brake on the # 2 hoist drive would not release. The mine evacuation was complete at 1:50pm. A new pinion brake releif valve was installed, the hoist was tested and restored to service. Miners returned underground at 3:00 pm.
Swepco power outage affected city of Grand Saline and multiple counties. Power was restored at 8:31 a.m., the hoist was tested and mining operations resumed.
Experienced intermittent loss of control power due to faulty contactor relay that controls hoist speed. Miners were evacuated and the control contactor relay was replaced. The hoist was tested and miners returned underground at 4:55 pm.
The investigation is not complete, but as of now it appears that the employee had washed the #2 drill and was rolling up the hose when a portion of the mine roof collapsed, striking and covering him with a section of the salt roof.
The employee stated that he was traveling behind the #7 feeder and he stopped to pick up his water bottle that had fallen. At this point he states that a scale fell and struck him on his hard hat. The foreman could not locate a scale. He then took him back to find the exact location. He stated he was not injured just a little shook up.
Employee was walking in the UG shop wash bay when he stepped into an eroded area of the salt mine floor. His ankle creeled and he fell. He was in the process of washing a piece of equipment with a pressure washer.
While clearing a jammed can in the north shaker line accumulator, employee's hand became caught between discharge wheel and accumulator frame resulting in lacerations to top of right hand, middle and index fingers.
Employee felt pain in right side when assisting removal of poly bag roll from machine. While lifting, he twisted and stepped down from approximately 10-12"" platform.
EE states he was washing the KCl crude filter when he noticed the tank was filling too fast. He left the filter to shut off the water when the tank ruptured and sprayed hot brine on employee's ankle.
Employee helped lift 80# bag from palletizer. Later, when exiting fork, he said he had pain in low back. Incident not reported earlier due to mis-information from employee and doctor whether he could perform regular job or not.
Employee was working in oil service bay filling lube truck and stepped on slick bottom, fell, and twisted knee.
Employee creeled ankle and suffered severe sprain when stepping down from a 9-12"" offset on workplatform.
Employee was assigned to clean up oil spillage near the block press. While applying oil to the dry floor, he slipped and grabbed a stack of pallets with his left hand to avoid falling to the ground level. Later in the shift he observed a knot that formed on his left wrist as a result of grabbing the pallets.
Employee was placing a blasting cap in a drill hole with his left hand while holding on to the top rail of the loading basket with his right hand. The loading basket moved causing the basket to move against the mine face, mashing his finger between the mine face and the loading basket.
EE was pulling his cooler out of the bed of the gator and hit the fire extinguisher. The fire extinguisher discharged, shooting chemicals into the bed of the gator and then into his eyes.
Employee was on a ladder disconnecting the cylinder to install cables on a 1200 JLG man lift. He fell from the ladder and suffered a laceration to the elbow and a contusion of the sacrum.
The employee was demoing some (RMC) ridgid metal conduit during a weekend shutdown. The employee used Tru-trape to support one end of the conduit while he cut a strap loose with a reciprocating saw. The tru tape broke, causing the RMC to fall on one end and the other end to raise up catching his arm between the RMC and a angle iron brace cutting left arm.
Employee was saw cutting asphalt when he started to feel weak. Employee was transported to local hospital and given IV fluids and released for work.