All MSHA-reportable accidents at Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC operations in 2012. Fatalities appear first.
On the above listed date at 9:30pm, a stray cat had entered into the load side of the fuses used to power the hoist in the secondary escape way causing electrical failure to the hoist. All workers were withdrawn from the mine and both agencies were notified.
At 10:50 pm the service hoist failed to operate in that the (sensor overspeed) had water in it making the shaft itself inoperative. All personnel in the mine was withdrawn, and both regulatory agencies were contacted in a timely manner.
On 06/29/2012 at 8:25 a severe thunderstorm moved through the area knocking the power at the Affinity mine. The power outage caused an interruption to the main fan and service hoist. All miners were notified and evacuated immediately. The state was notified at 8:35 and MSHA was notified at 8:45. All miners were evacuated and accounted for at 9:15pm.
Power outage occurred causing the fan to go off which led to the employees being withdrawn from the mine. Employees were evacuated from the mine via the primary escapeway elevator.
The overtravel switch bracket became loose while maintenance was being performed.
The overtravel switch malfunctioned due to water from a wash down hose.
9:30am on 2/24 the escapeway hoist computer displayed a fault setting. All persons were evacuated from the mine. No employees were injured or trapped due to the hoist incident. MSHA was notified of the event at 9:55am on 2/24. At approximately 10:08am on 2/24 the hoist issue was corrected and following a successful inspection the hoist was returned to service.
A insulator on our primary 46 kv power line broke in half causing a span to fall out of tension and contact the 12 kv secondary power line. This contact caused both the primary breaker located at AEP's Sophia substation to lock out and our 12 kv breaker to trip as well. Power was lost to the main elevator/hoist and the miners were withdrawn with the emergency 19-man hoist.
Employee was operating the #10 shuttle car, as he stepped out of the car to turn his body around he twisted his knee. Mine management was not aware of this incident until 07/31/2012.
While setting jacks on the belt slope at the 600 ft. level the employee was struck by a piece of rock in the face that was softball size and had fell from the roof. This resulted in a contusion.
Employee was carrying 3"" lay-flat waterline to a pump in #4 entry near the shaft bottom when he felt pain in his lower back.
While using a chain hoist to pull slack in the 2-C belt take-up the eyelet attached to the take-up cross member broke and the miner was struck in his left knee resulting in a contusion. He was placed on restricted duty.
The employee stated he pulled groin muscle while getting up from his knees. The company does not believe this injury occurred at the mine. This is to comply with citation 9051012.
Employee stated he was hanging flypads and turned towards his scoop and felt pain in his right leg. The company believes this injury relates to an injury that occurred on 6/9/12 that the company does not believe occurred at the mine.
Employee reported on 6/18/2012 he had been injured at the mine but did not report it. An investigation was conducted and the company does not believe an injury occurred at the mine. The report is to comply and abate citation 9051005 issued 8/27/2014.
Roof bolt operator was tramming roof bolt machine to a new place and the injured employee was walking approximately 25 feet behind the machine to spot for the roof bolt operator to ensure he did not tram into the cables on the off side of the machine. The injured employee tripped over the roof bolt cable and fell to the ground injuring his right knee.
While traveling to the section on the Rubber Tired Mac 8 Diesel powered mantrip the EE was thrown into the seat in front of him when the mantrip struck an embedded rail in the roadway causing it to stop suddenly. He sustained a hairline fracture to his 9th left rib. The EE ran his shuttle car on his next scheduled shift, so the company believed there was no restricted duty.
Employee was constructing a seal and while removing gob from a seal site a small (softball size) piece of gob rolled off a pile of gob approximately 24 inches and struck the employee on the thigh area causing a pulled hamstring.
Employee was crossing the tall piece and put his left hand down on a hot down-drill bit. This resulted in a 2nd degree burn to his left hand. He returned to his regular duty as a scoop operator on his next scheduled shift 31*
Maintenance Foreman was watching coal come off the feeder and a piece of rock hit the belt and bounced up and struck his left thumb. He sustained a fracture to the distal bone in his left thumb. This is to report medical treatment only.
The employee received a new knee brace on 10/2/2012 for pain to his right knee. The employee never reported an injury to the company and is no longer employed. This is to report medical treatment only. The company believes this injury relates to an injury that occurred on 6/16/2012 that the company does not believe occurred at the mine.
The employee was riding to the section on the mantrip and struck his head on the mine roof near #19 Block on #2 section in the roadway. At the medical facility he was diagnosed with a neck strain/sprain and given a soft cervical collar. This is to report medical treatment only.
Employee stated he was operating his shuttle car and when he got out to turn around so he could change directions he stepped on a ledge twisting his right knee. He was diagnosed with a sprain/strain and given a knee brace. This is to report medical treatment only.
Employee was removing drill steel due to it being stuck and steel pulled apart striking his left hand.
While pulling belt together to pin the splice slack came in the belt and the employee struck his right hand against the belt structure. The employee received medical treatment in the form of a splint/cast and arm sling.
Employee was removing a band from a stack of blocks and cut his finger.