Pinnacle Mining Company, LLCMining Incidents in 2011

The Lakeshore elevator, which is the secondary escapeway for all working sections of the mine, ceased operation for longer than 30 minutes.

There was a roof fall at #6 entry, 117 break of the West Mains bleeder system. The fall was in a worked out area, will not be cleaned up, and was found by an examiner.

The 8 Haulage elevator was down from 3:28pm to 5:35pm due to the failure of a mechanical brake switch.

An unintentional roof fall was found by the weekly examiner in the 8 Haulage bleeders between the 8H and 8I panels. The fall measured approximately 20' x 20' x 6" high.

An examiner discovered an unintentional roof fall at the #2 entry; Break #9; inby the 8N switch towards Trail Fork. The fall was approximately 20'L x 20'W x 7'H. No ventilation or travelways were affected by the roof fall.

At 2:15pm the weekly examiner discovered an unintentional roof fall in the 8 South Bleeders on the 8N panel in the #1 entry at #40 crosscut. The fall was approximately 18'W x 120'L x 6'H.

The 8 Haulage elevator was down for more than 30 minutes due to a brake problem.

Elevator was down for more than 30 minutes due to an electrical problem.

At 7:00 PM the weekly examiner discovered an unintentional roof fall in the 8 hlg bleeders on the No. 4 break, No. 2 Entry, between 8M and 8L. The fall was approximately 20'x20'x10'.

The 8 haulage elevator was down more than 30 minutes. There was work being performed on the surface to repair cracks in the elevator shaft. Initial findings indicate that grout spillage on top of the elevator caused it not to operate in call/automatic mode. The elevator would operate in manual mode.

The door switch at the mine floor was fouled on the 8 haulage elevator from 12:01 am until 12:50 am.

The 8 Haulage Elevator was down from 3:45pm to 4:28pm due to a blown fuse in the output card.

The 8 Haulage elevator door mechanism malfunctioned causing the elevator to be down for a period of 36 minutes.

An unintentional roof fall was discovered by an examiner in the 8 Haulage Bypass #3 entry at the #12 crosscut. The fall measured approximately 30'L x 20'W x6'H. This fall occurred in a neutral entry and no ventilation or travelways were affected.

An unintentional roof fall occurred in the 8Q longwall recovery face between the #4 and #5 monkey butts. The fall is approximately 60' L x 18' W x 12' H.

The 8 haulage elevator was down more than thirty minutes when a piece of ice fell from the side of the shaft and damaged the pit stop switch.

The operator chose to take down the 8 Haulage elevator for more than 30 minutes for repairs.

The weekly examiner found an unintentional roof fall in the 8N bleeders in the #1 entry at the #30 crosscut. The fall measured approximately 18'W x 18'L x 12' H.

The 8 Haulage elevator was down for more than 30 minutes due to the malfunction of a door switch.

The 8 Haulage elevator was down for over 30 minutes due to a problem with the leveling switch.

The 8 haulage elevator was down for more than 30 minutes due to a problem with the door switch.

The level switch on the 8 Haulage elevator malfunctioned causing the elevator to be down for 70 minutes.

Employee was trying to fix plastic guarding around a drive at a junction. He had just changed his knife blade and was attempting to cut a zip tie while he was holding the guard. The knife cut through the zip tie and created an incision in his left wrist which required stitches.

Employee stepped on a rock while running a phone line, causing him to turn his ankle.

EE was dropping the drill head after drilling a hole with a roof bolting machine. A piece of drill steel suddenly fell out of the hole and he reached up to catch it. After this sudden movement, ee could not straighten his right arm. He was taken to Welch Emergency. Confirmation of diagnosis pending.

Employee was descending the stairs when his right foot slipped and he overextended his left arm while holding onto the handrail. Employee worked regular shifts until 2/15/2012 at which time he elected to have surgery on his shoulder.

Employee was building a stopping and attempted to use a sledgehammer to put a top block in. The resulting impact caused 8 blocks to fall out and hit him on the left shoulder. The stopping was approximately 76" high. He was taken to Welch Emergency. Confirmation of Diagnosis pending.

EE was using a torch to cut a cable stand-off on a miner. As he was finishing up, a piece of slag popped and flew into his right eye. EE was wearing wrap around safety glasses. He stated it went under the lens.

Truck was overheating and employee removed radiator cap to check water level and was sprayed by heated anti freeze/water.

The employee was part of a two man team carrying a heinzman jack. He dropped his end and complained of numbness in his right hand and pain in his right shoulder.

The employee attempted to remove a rock from beneath the lifeline. The rock was approximately 24" x 12" x 12" and weighed approximately 50 lbs. After lifting the rock, the employee felt a pain in his back. He finished his shift and continued to report to work as scheduled until 10/11/2011, which was his first shift missed.

Employee was unsure when suspected injury occurred, may have pulled back when lifting barrier beam or getting up and down when cutting hezman jacks. Employee stated that he did feel something when he lifted barrier beam, but thought it might not be nothing as shift went on, stated he was feeling pain.

Employee, a motorman was stepping onto a motor when he lost his balance. He tried to shift his weight to catch himself and twisted his knee. He said he felt it pop. He was brought outside and transported via ambulance to the Princeton ER. He was given time off until 9/19/2011 by the ER doctor, and has a referral with an ortho specialist.

Employee was coming down off the ladder of a piece of mobile equipment when he slipped and hit his ribs against a chain boat that was parked beside the equipment. The first day of worked missed was 4/4/2011.

Employee was riding in the inby end of a open ended track vehicle when the vehicle struck a track stopping device (dog)causing the vehicle to come to an abrupt stop.

While pulling the miner cable and water line away from the continuous miner a rock measuring approximately 62"w x 46"L x 6" thick rolled off of the side of the machine and landed on the miner operator's foot. The continuous miner was de-energized at the time.

Employee suffered a lower back sprain when the track vehicle he was on was struck by a mantrip. The first day he missed work due to the injury was 1/20/2011.

Employee allegedly sprained her left knee when stepping off of a track vehicle. Employee was observed same day after leaving work, performing firefighting duties. Company is contesting this claim.

Employee was lifting belt structure with comealongs, when the hook on the comealongs slipped out of the clevice. When the belt structure fell, it shattered his fingertip bone and he received 12 stitches at Welch Hospital.

Exiting office trailer, slipped and fell down two steps. Continued working his regular shift for 10 days. Sought medical treatment 2/19/2011. At that time was put on modified duty. Diagnosis contusion, hip and shoulder. Thinking this was a first-aid treatment, I did not file a report. After receiving notice on 4/8/2011 about the referral to an Ortho doctor, I am filing this report.

Employee was trimming off a piece of rubber on a conveyor pulley. The knife slipped and he made a small cut in his leg that required 3 stitches.

Employee was putting his second piece of steel in to drill his hole. Instead of putting the steel into the other steel, he put it in the drill head and tried to connect the steel. Once the steel came together, it slapped back into his right thumb and index finger.

Using grinder, metal for in right eye. Eye swelled went to the eye doctor and foreign body was removed from effected eye.

Injured was getting ready to make belt splice for straight edging. The knife slipped cutting his left thumb. Area was muddy and wet and the belt was very wet causing the knife to slip. Injured was required to get stitches for the cut.

A wrench slipped off of the end of a cable bolt and caught an employee's finger between the wrench and the drill head of a roof bolter.