Specialty Minerals IncMining Incidents in 2009

The employee was placing condensers in Furnace #9. When the condensers would no go in, the employee went to remove it. His left hand was holding the front of the condenser and his right hand was holding the rear, as the condenser was at the end of the retort, he started to lose grip and he went to catch it with his right hand. That is when he left a pain in his right arm.

Two employees were moving a refrigerator down a stairway. They were using a dolly but the injured employee lost his footing. The refrigerator got away and caused the employee to strike a wall with the back of his head and shoulders.

Worker was operating overburden drill near a highwall, when three (approximately 2-3"") rocks struck side windows on cab, causing fractures in the glass. The fractures released very small glass particles into the cab which entered the worker's eyes, resulting in corneal abrasion.

The employee was using a wheelbarrow to move stone into the electrical blockhouse. Another employee was using a skid loader to dump the stone into the wheelbarrow, when the stone was dumped into the wheelbarrow, the employee was holding onto the handles of the wheelbarrow. When the stone hit the wheelbarrow, the employee felt pain in his right hip.

The employee was trying to unplug the log chipper that is used to chip calcium metal with a rod. After trying to repeatedly unplug it the employee stopped and went downstairs to shut the chipper down, that is when he felt pain in his lower back.

The employee was walking from one building to the next, when he slipped on the ice and injured his left wrist.

A non-employee entered Specialty Minerals' property and proceeded to the quarry area. The individual committed suicide by driving his 1998 GMC truck over the edge of the quarry. The vechicle fell approximately 300 feet to the floor of the quarry. The Massachusetts State Police investigated the incident and confirmed that the individual committed suicide.