Every injury and fatality MSHA has on file. Filter by state, year, sector, classification, experience, or any keyword from the investigator's narrative.
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Employee stated he was installing a roof bolt in the face area. He did not know that the rotation hose on the bolter boom had hung on the canopy post. When he pushed the bolt up the hose dislodged and struck him in the chin.
Employee was operating a Fletcher roofbolter and back into an idle miner sitting in the belt entry, pinching his right forearm. He received stitches to close the wound.
Employee was trying to free a drill steel when he caught his left hand and suffered an injury. Stitches were required to close the laceration.
Employee stated that he was operating a roof bolter on his right knee and when went to stand up his left foot slipped on a piece of draw slate. This caused him to fall downward striking his forehead on the roof bolter. EE received 9 sutures.
Employee was hanging curtain in #9 entry. The continuous miner was loading gob out of the intersection. A plate picked up by the continuous miner head struck the employee in the left thigh causing a incision that required 3 sutures to close.
EE was operating operator side of #3 bolter on #1 MMU. He had left hand on handle under canopy and right hand operating swing lever. There was an overhang on rib . As canopy swung, it went over the top of the overhang and mashed his left ring finger between the overhang and canopy handle. EE received 3 stitches to finger.
EE was installing last bolt in the face of #3 entry of #3 MMU. He put the top section of his finish steel in the roof and the bottom section in the chuck of the bolter. He coupled the two sections together. As he removed his hand , he hit the rotation and feed lever. The pressure from the boom caused the steel to bend and as it rotated, it struck EE in the arm.
Was drilling hole in preparation to install rib bolt. Drop the boom on the bolt he had prepared for installation and caught his left foot between the roof bolt and the mine floor, causing a contusion to the left foot.
Employee stated he was rib bolting in the belt entry and felt a pain in his right arm.
Stated: Employee was drilling hole for roof bolt. He drilled in his first steel and dropped the arm to connect the second steel to the first. He raised the arm to continue drilling. He did not notice the bottom of the second steel was not in the chuck but on the shoulder. He continued with the upward pressure. The steel slipped off and hit his right hand, fracturing his thumb.
Stated: Employee was installing a 6' bolt. He had part of the bolt in the roof and was bending the bottom half back to finish the installation. As he was pushing on the bent bolt, it spun in the hole causing him to hit his hand on the boom of the ATRS. He dislocated his index finger of his right hand from the joint on his hand.
Employee stated: He had been cutting bottoms for a new belt drive. He was beside the miner when a piece of coal rib sloughed off. He had cut 2' of bottoms but had not undercut the coal. The piece was 4"-6" thick X 2' tall X 5' long. The toe of his boot was under the apron when he jumped and twisted to avoid the falling coal. He broke the navicular bone in his right foot.
Stated: Employee was bolting in the #5 entry in unit 3. He had drilled his first steel, had his bottom steel in the chuck and was attempting to join the two when his index finger on his right hand was caught between the top of the second steel and the mine roof.
Emp. stated he drilled hole with top steel then inserted bottom steel into the top steel. When putting the bottom steel in the chuck it stuck on the edge and popped his right hand as it went into the chuck. As a result a fracture of the right index finger was received.
Stated: The employee was moving the bolter cable while the bolter operator was backing the machine up. The operator turned on the cable reel, jerking the cable out of his hand and causing pain in his shoulder. He bolted 10 places and finished his shift. Medical evaluations show tendinopathy and joint separation.
Employee stated: He was installing 8' bolts for the refuge chamber. He had drilled his first steel and left it in the roof. He put his second steel in the pot. They did not line up. He was pulling on the bottom steel when it slipped, hitting the index finger on his right hand, which was holding the top steel in the roof.
Employee was installing roof bolts in the #7 entry of unit #4. As he was raising the boom, he lost his balance. He placed his left hand on the boom to steady himself and continued the upward movement with the boom. His ring finger of his left hand was caught between a bolt head used to adjust the canopy post and the boom, slicing the fingernail off the top of the finger.
EE drilled a bolt hole to the depth of the 1st drill steel & then joined the 2nd steel to the 1st one. He raised the bolter's boom to meet the lower end of the 2nd steel. He did not have the lower end of the 2nd steel completely engaged in the chuck. As he raised the boom further, the steel sprung laterally striking his right thumb causing a laceration.
Stated: Employee was operating a continuous miner. After finishing the cut, he backed the miner up with the cutting edge engaged to trim the roof. While doing this, a piece of material struck him on the right cheek. The object material is unknown by the injured or the supervisor. He received a laceration on the right cheek requiring 5 sutures.
EE had been operating the miner & a piece of roof rock (approx 5'L x 3 1/2'W x 6" thick) was on top of the machine. The rock was on the miner overhanging slightly over the right side. He backed the miner up under supported roof to the left side of the entry to remove the rock. As he approached the mid-point of the miner, the rock slid off on its own striking his left foot.
EE was installing a roof bolt he was pushing bolt into the hole with machine. When roof bolt plate was only inches from roof he noticed that it was misaligned for curtain hook and reached up to swat plate to rotate it. His glove caught on plate, tip of his right index finger between plate and mine roof. Approx 1/8 to 1/4 of his finger tip was amputated.
EE reported: attempting to hang a wing curtain, the bolter machine was moving forward; the bolter cable tightened and struck him, knocking him to the ground experienced pain to his low back. Started missing schedule work days 10/26/09, became a lost time reportable injury on that date.
Employee reported: Backing continuous miner from cut. To keep the machine cable pulled away from the tram pads, he was using his right foot to guide the cable along the mine ribline. As the machine was backed and pressure applied, his right knee popped. The following day the knee began to swell & become painful to walk. Started missing scheduled work days Friday May 22, 2009.
EE reported: Operating roof bolter in face area. When attempting to position the head of the roof bolt into the rotation chuck of the drill head, spun the bolt. Unknowingly the bolt had a small bend, when it spun this bend caused his wrist to be bent backwards, resulting in a hairline fracture to the ulna bone in the wrist.
While roof bolting, he was attaching a lower drill steel to the upper drill steel. The hole was misaligned and he had placed the lower steel in the drill chuck. He then used manual force and got the steels partially engaged. He then used the bolters boom lift to finish. He rotated steels and because they were bowed, his left hand was struck. Laceration between index and thumb.
Operating roof bolter drilling hole in mine roof. Had completed drilling the inital drill steel depth. This drill steel stuck in the roof. He added second drill steel in machine's chuck, raised this steel in an attempt to connect the two steels. The steels did not align, lower steel popped sideways striking his right hand resulting in a laceration and fracture to the hand.
Reported: Operating a 14CM15 continuous miner cutting a crosscut.As he was sumping in the left side of the cut, the bits began to strike sulfur balls and spark. He backed the machine, lowered the cutter drum and again sumped into the cut. A foreign object flew back striking his right forearm resulting in a puncture wound to the arm.
Drilling test holes in mine roof. EE attempted to remove the drill auger from roof. Due to length of drill auger, the drill box needed to be moved from under auger. When attempting to slide drill box over, he inadvertly pressed lever wrong direction. Left hand was caught between canopy and the drill auger resulting in a laceration.
Employee reported: He had straightened out a roof bolt after bending it for the installation when the plate slid down the roof bolt. The corner of the plate lacerated the inside of his forearm requiring 12 sutures to close the wound. No lost work days.
Operating continuous miner on No 3 unit. When tramming the machine to the face area, the water hose had kinked. As this location passed the victim, the hose flopped over striking his left calf resulting in a contusion. Continued to experience pain and swelling. Received treatment on 3/27/08, fluid drawn from knee. Was removed from work on 3/27/08.
EE reported: Operating roof bolter in face area, had installed the ribline bolt, lowered machine's canopy to swing boom to center bolt location. As he was swinging the boom a small piece of draw fell striking his left shoulder, sliding down his back. He has reported a possible strain to low back region.
Employee reported: Operating roof bolter in face area, when lowering the drill chuck, due to misalignment, the drill steel suddenly came out of the chuck, moved sideways striking his left wrist resulting in a small laceration to the wrist. The treating physician closed the wound with 4 sutures.
EE helping coworker move cont. miner from face area, operator was positioned in front of machine, EE was positioned outby machine. EE stepped toward machine to ensure cable was clear of tram path. When postioned adjacent to machine's tail, operator began to back from face. Machine's tail contacted EE's lower left abdomen area resulting in internal soft tissue & artery inj.
EE was installing a roof bolt into a drilled hole. He initially had the bolt head in the machines rotation chuck, when he raised to the roof, the boom head would not reach roof. Lowerd boom, inserted wrench and re-raised. To align wrench on bolt head, he engaged machines rotation while holding onto resin bolt. A burr caught glove and tightened glove around fingers.
Operating a Fletcher roof bolter in face area, his drill auger stopped up; when lowering the steel from the mine roof, it hung in the chuck of the rotation head. His boom was misaligned. As he lowered the boom, at a certain point the misalignment connected allowing the steel to exit the chuck, suddenly move sideways and strike his right thumb resulting in a contusion to the thumb.
Operating roof bolter drilling hole in mine roof. After completing the depth of the first auger, lowered boom, added second drill steel, began the rotation and overpressurized the upward thrust. When the drill bit contacted undrilled roof, the drill steel bent spun around stiking his right wrist resulting in a contusion. He worked all shifts until 3/15/07, missing work days.
Employee came in early before normal work shift. Normally he operates a ram car coal hauler. On this date, he was operating a roof bolter. After helping co-worker bolt one place, he was experiencing pain in his upper back and right shoulder. He has a history of arthritis in shoulders, back and neck. On the following day discomfort worsened and he started missing time.
Left hand was struck by the lower section of a roof bolter drill steel. The lower drill steel was caught on the edge of the chuck as the rotation unit was raised. The upward pressure of the rotation unit boom caused the lower drill steel to be kicked outward. He was reaching towards the drill steel at the time & his left hand was struck between the thumb & index finger.
Reported: Operating roof bolter installing a roof bolt adjacent to a damaged bolt. As he was raising the drill steel, it caught on the plate of the previously damaged bolt pushing the plate adjacent the roof. His finger was over this plate catching it between the plate and mine roof.
Employee reported: Operated continuous miner. He had left an uneven floor in the face area. Backed machine to start of uneven floor, standing at machine's bumper, he lowered the cutting drum. This caused the machine's bumper to lower catching his right foot. He initially returned to normal work status. Due to pain & discomfort, he started missing scheduled work days on 3-3-2006.
EE REPORTED: OPERATING A ROOF BOLTER MACHINE, BOLTING FACE AREA. WHEN REMOVING A 6' RESIN BOLT FROM THE MACHINE'S STORAGE TRAY, THE BOLT HUNG IN THE TRAY. HE JERKED TO FREE THE BOLT, THE BOLT CAME OUT SUDDENLY CATCHING HIS FINGER BETWEEN THE END OF THE BOLT AND THE FRAME OF THE MACHINE'S ATRS RESULTING IN A SMALL LACERATION REQUIRING 3 SUTURES.
Employee reported: When operating Fletcher roof bolter in face area, he was drilling bolt hole in mine roof. Using 2-piece drill steel, bottom section was lowered from roof, just as it cleared the hole the steel started to lean over. As he was reaching to catch the leaning drill steel his face was under the drill hole. The upper steel fell from drilled hole striking his front tooth
EE STATED HE WAS WATCHING THE FCT FROM THE RETURN SIDE OF THE BELT AND WANTED TO SEE IF THE DOLLY WHEEL ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE WAS TRACKING PROPERLY. THE FCT WAS STOPPED AT THE TIME AND HE PLACED HIS RIGHT FOOT APPROX 2-3" FORWARD OF THE DOLLY ONTO THE LOW FRAME TO STEP AND SEE OVER THE TOP. THE FCT OPERATOR TRAMMED THE DOLLY FORWARD CATCHING HIS RIGHT FOOT UNDER THE RAIL CLEANER BAR
Ee reported: attempting to back a continuous miner from the face area. The machine suddenly moved to the right, his reaction was jerking his head backwards. Continued to experience pain and discomfort to his neck. Late August received medical treatment for the pain. Dianoised as degenerative disc diease in his neck and also arthritis present along his spine. Started missing
OPERATING A ROOF BOLTER INSTALLING BOLTS IN A FACE AREA, WHILE PUSHING AN 8' ROOF BOLT INTO THE DRILLED HOLE, THE BOLT HUNG AND BENT. EE HAD GRIPPED THE BOLT WITH LEFT HAND, ATTEMPTING TO GUIDE IT INTO THE HOLE, EE MISTAKENLY ENGAGED THE ROTATION LEVER RATHER THAN THE MASK LOWER LEVER, THE BOLT SPUN STRIKING LEFT FOREARM RESULTING IN A HAIRLINE FRACTURE TO THE HUMORUS BONE.
EE was helping coworkers splice tram chain of FCT. Unit was raised off mine floor using hydraulic jacks located on each side. When EE attempted to lower jack on his side, jack popped from its set location. The stem of jack struck EE's left leg just above the knee, resulting in a contusion to the leg. EE's right hand was also injured. RTW release issued 3/4/05.
EE STATED: OPERATING ROOF BOLTER, DRILLING A HOLE IN THE MINE ROOF. AFTER COMPLETING THE FIRST AUGER DEPTH, HE ADDED THE EXTENSION AUGER. HE FAILED TO INSERT THE EXTENSION AUGER INTO THE ROTATION BOX CHUCK. WHEN INITIATING THE ROTATION, THE AUGER SPUN AROUND, SUDDENLY GLANCING SIDEWAYS STRIKING THE PALM OF HIS RIGHT HAND.
OPERATING A ROOF BOLTER IN THE FACE AREA, DRAW ROCK FELL, EE JERKED BACKWARDS TO POSITION HIMSELF UNDER THE MACHINE CANOPY. THE SUDDEN BODY JERK RESULTED IN PAIN TO EE LEFT SHOULDER AND DOWN HIS LEFT ARM. CONTINUED TO EXPERIENCE PAIN TO HIS NECK AND SHOULD, STARTED MISSING SCHEDULED WORK DAYS 10/22/2004, BECAME A REPORTABLE INJURY ON THAT DATE.
EMPLOYEE REPORTED: HE WAS PERFORMING THE JOB AS A ROOF BOLTER. WHEN DRILLING A HOLE IN THE MINE ROOF, HE HAD DRILLED THE DEPTH OF THE 1ST AUGER, AFTER INSERTING THE 2ND AUGER INTO THE 1ST AUGER THERE WAS A GAP BETWEEN THE TWO AUGERS. WHEN THE BOOM OF MACHINE WAS RAISED, THE TWO AUGERS CAME TOGETHER CATCHING THE FLESH BETWEEN HIS INDEX FINGER & THUMB RESULTING IN A LACERATION.
OPERATING CONTINUOUS MINER IN COAL FACE, MAKING THE RIGHT SIDE CUT THE MACHINE HAD PENETRATED APPROXIMATELY 15' DEEP WHEN HE OBSERVED SPARKS NEAR THE MINE ROOF. SUDDENLY PAIN WAS FELT TO HIS LEFT ARM. THE CUTTING BITS HAD CONTACTED A SULFUR BALL NEAR THE MINE ROOF. A SLIVER OF STEEL EITHER OFF A DRUM BIT HOLDER OR CUTTING BIT BROKE AWAY, FLYING BACK AND STRIKING HIS LEFT FOREARM.