2009 Coal Fatalilties

1. 2009 Coal Fatalilties

8. Coal - Fatal #1 – West Virginia • Total Exp – 8 wks • Site Exp – 8 wks • Job Exp – 8 wks • Activity – Hauling Coal • February 6, 2009 • Powered Haulage • Coal Truck Driver • 70 Years Old

9. Coal - Fatal #1 – West Virginia • The coal truck struck the left embankment at an angle. • The truck traveled approximately 97 feet down grade, and • It turned over on the road. • The victim was fatally injured when he was trapped under the cab of the truck.

11. Best Practices • Never operate a truck or other mobile equipment without using a seat belt. • Observe all speed limits, traffic rules, and ensure that grades on haulage roads are appropriate for haulage equipment being used. • Know the truck's capabilities, operating ranges, load-limits and properly maintain the brakes and other safety features.

12. Best Practices • Always select the proper gear and downshift well in advance of descending the grade. • Routinely monitor work habits and examine work areas to ensure that safe work procedures are followed. • Train all employees on proper work procedures and hazard recognition and avoidance.

13. Coal – Fatal #2 - Illinois • February 17, 2009 • Handling Materials • Over Road Truck Driver • 27 Years Old • Contractor • Total Exp – 0 days • Site Exp – 0 days • Job Exp – 0 days • Activity – Unloading Lumber from Truck

14. Coal – Fatal #2 - Illinois • The victim was delivering a load of lumber to the mine on a flat bed tractor-trailer. • A mine employee was using a forklift to unload the lumber from the trailer. • The operator of the forklift attempted to remove two bundles of lumber from the driver’s side of the trailer. • When he raised the forks, two bundles of lumber fell off the trailer on the passenger’s side and struck the victim.

16. Best Practices • Conduct a Risk Assessment before beginning any task; evaluate the work procedures, identify all possible hazards, and take steps to perform the task safely. • Establish safe work procedures and ensure all personnel involved communicate clearly with each other. • Never work in a location where co-workers cannot see you during loading or unloading of materials. • Ensure that workers are not positioned near hazards from falling loads.

17. Coal – Fatal #3 - Kentucky • February 26, 2009 • Slip/Fall of Person • Installer • 50 Years Old • Contractor • Total Exp – 1 day • Site Exp – 1 day • Job Exp – 12 yrs • Activity – Installing overhead garage door

18. Coal – Fatal #3 - Kentucky • The victim was positioned on a 10-foot step ladder as he and a co-worker tested the tension on the door. • The door began to descend from the fully opened position and struck the ladder. • He fell, striking his head on the concrete floor below.

20. Best Practices • Conduct a Risk Assessment before beginning any task; evaluate the work procedures, identify all possible hazards, and take steps to perform the task safely. SLAM it. Stop, Look, Analyze, and Manage. • Position ladders for protection from moving objects, or being bumped or knocked over. • Never work beneath a suspended load.

21. Best Practices • Securely block equipment from motion when working around it. • Use fall protection and tie off where danger from falling exists. • Examine all tools, including ladders for defects and remove any defective tool from the work area. • Ensure that moving parts operate freely without binding or excessive play.

22. Coal – Fatal #4 - Louisiana • March 6, 2009 • Machinery • Surface • Dragline Oiler • 44 Years Old • Total Exp – 5 yrs 2 wks • Site Exp – 5 yrs 2 wks • Job Exp – 1 yr • Activity – Dragline Oiler

23. Coal – Fatal #4 - Louisiana • While the dragline was being deadheaded or walked to a new cut in the pit, the oiler needed to add extra grease to the cam slide area of the walking mechanism. • He walked from one shoe to the other through the dragline house, and was last seen standing on the end of the catwalk on the shoe. • The victim was found in a pinch point between the shoe and the dragline house, approximately 10 feet from where he was last seen.

25. Best Practices • Persons should not be on the walking shoes of draglines while the machine is walking. • Persons should only board or dismount the dragline house after verbally communicating with the dragline operator and the operator has brought the dragline to a full stop and set the brakes. • All miners who work on the dragline should have a positive means of verbal communication, such as a radio, with the dragline operator.

26. Best Practices • Extra grease during walking should be applied to the cam assembly by remote and/or automatic means without persons needing to perform this work from the dragline shoe.

27. Coal – Fatal #5 - Alabama • April 2, 2009 • Powered Haulage • Surface • Rock Truck Operator • 29 Years Old • Contractor • Total Exp – 28 wks • Site Exp – 28 wks • Job Exp – 28 wks • Activity – Operating Rock Truck (searching for an oil leak on the rock truck he had been operating.)

28. Coal – Fatal #5 - Alabama • The victim was pinned between the railing outside of the operator's cab and the dump bed of the truck he was operating. • He had seen oil spillage on the ground during a run into the pit staging area. • He exited the operator's compartment and was standing against the hand rail at the rear of the operator’s cab (driver’s side) when the bed dropped.

30. Best Practices • Always block machinery and equipment against motion prior to any work. • Record equipment defects affecting safety and report them to your supervisor. • Always be aware of your location in relation to machine parts that have the ability to move.

31. Coal – Fatal #6 – Kentucky • May 21, 2009 • Powered Haulage • Surface • Foreman/Equipment Operator • 32 Years Old • Total Exp – 15 yrs • Site Exp – 1 yr • Job Exp – 15 yrs • Activity – Operating Rock Truck

32. Coal – Fatal #6 – Kentucky • The victim traveled over the edge of a dump site in the loaded rock truck. • The truck rolled over, landed on its top at the toe of an approximate 60-foot-high slope, and crushed the cab.

34. Best Practices • Construct adequate berms at the edges of all elevated dump sites, and ensure they are properly maintained. • Conduct examinations of dump sites (using a certified person) at least once each working shift, and more often, if necessary for safety. • Provide training to all dump-point workers on recognizing dump-point hazards, taking appropriate corrective measures, and using safe dumping procedures.

35. Best Practices • Instruct personnel to wear seat belts. • Any time there is uncertainty about the safety of the dump area, dumping should be conducted a safe distance from the edge. • Also, a driver can dump short and allow a bulldozer to push the load over the edge.

36. Coal – Fatal #7 – Kentucky • June 9, 2009 • Powered Haulage • Underground • Section Foreman • 58 Years Old • Total Exp – 40 yrs • Site Exp – 5 yrs • Job Exp – 30 yrs • Activity – Section Foreman

37. Coal – Fatal #7 – Kentucky • A scoop operator was pushing/positioning a trailer loaded with approximately 220 concrete blocks. • The trailer became unattached from the scoop and rolled down grade, pinning the victim against an outby bridge conveyor.

39. Best Practices • Avoid pushing equipment designed to be towed. • Ensure employees are properly instructed on proper towing procedures and the safe use of towing hardware/equipment. • Use only towing hardware (hitches, tow bars, receivers, couplers, pins, pintles, safety chains/cables, etc.) that are properly designed for the load. • Monitor work habits routinely and examine work areas to ensure that safe working procedures are being followed. • Be aware of the location of all persons in the area before moving equipment or supply carriers.

40. Coal – Fatal #8 – Pennsylvania • Total Exp – 15 yrs 26 wks • Site Exp – 2 yrs 28 wks • Job Exp – 5 yrs • Activity – Bolting Roof • June 23, 2009 • Fall of Roof • Underground • Roof Bolter Operator • 54 Years Old

41. Coal – Fatal #8 – Pennsylvania • The victim was struck by a piece of shale that fell from the mine roof. • He was in the process of setting a roof jack on the left inby corner of the crosscut between the No. 2 and No. 1 entries. • A portion of this corner had been mined, a normal practice at this mine.

42. Coal – Fatal #8 – Pennsylvania • The rock measured approximately 4 feet long by 3 feet wide, and ranged from 9 to 11 inches thick. • This section was mined with a full face continuous mining machine with integral bolting machines.

43. Best Practices • Know and follow the approved roof control plan. • Be alert to changing roof conditions at all times. • Use roof bolting machines equipped with an ATRS to install roof supports rather than manually setting roof jacks. • Prior to manually installing temporary roof support, visually examine the roof first, and then test the roof.

45. Coal – Fatal #9 – West Virginia • July 28, 2009 • Powered Haulage • Surface • Equipment Operator • 28 Years Old • Contractor • Total Exp – 6 yrs • Site Exp – 10 wks • Job Exp – 30 wks • Activity – Driving Articulated Dump Truck

46. Coal – Fatal #9 – West Virginia • The truck overturned into a newly constructed sediment pond.  • The driver was traveling in reverse along a narrow road adjacent to the pond.  • The truck rolled onto its top trapping the driver under the water.

49. Best Practices • Maintain control of haulage equipment at all times. • Use properly constructed berms and other impeding devices around sediment ponds. • Ensure the stability of the roadbed.  Avoid operating haulage equipment on soft shoulders. • Routinely monitor work habits and examine work areas to ensure that safe work procedures are followed. • Use seat belts when operating mobile equipment.

50. Coal – Fatal #10 – Virginia • August 20, 2009 • Fall of Face/Roof/Rib • Underground • Electrician / Repairman • 58 Years Old • Total Exp – 33 yrs • Site Exp – 33 yrs • Job Exp – 4 yrs • Activity – Installing Timbers