Coal Age

AUG 2014

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August 2014 www.coalage.com 29 s a f e t y r e p o r t c o n t i n u e d was tramming the bolter. MSHA said in its preliminary findings that Payne was near the roadway to the longwall tailgate section of the mine's Viking Portal No. 1, where the section equipment was being removed from the longwall setup rooms. The miner was found on the left side of the roof bolter, between the machine and the rib. Awareness of pedestrians in a machine's turning radius was at the top of MSHA's best practices guide in the weeks following the fatality, as was a reminder for operations to install proximity protection systems to pro- tect personnel. Peabody Energy North Antelope Rochelle, Impact Crusher Death — June 4 June was less than a week old when equipment operator Joshua Wishard lost his life in a machinery accident while working at Peabody Powder River Mining's North Antelope Rochelle com- plex in Campbell County, Wyoming, a top producing mine with the nation's largest coal payroll at 1,517. In its initial findings following the June 4 incident, MSHA did not elaborate on the scenario leading up to the 5:35 a.m. event, but did confirm that the vic- tim was crushed between the hood and frame of a horizontal impact crusher at the mine's Rail Loop East Scoria crusher pit. It was not until the agency released a fatalgram safety alert for the fatality that it was revealed Wishard was clearing a rock from the crusher area when the incident occured. The death was not only the second one in less than a month, but it also involved another 25-year-old miner. Wishard had only 24 weeks of mining experience. In its best practices, federal investi- gators included several reminders for mining operations on safe working con- ditions and blocking material safety, but it also stressed the importance of monitoring all personnel — and espe- cially miners new to a task — to ensure safe procedures are followed. It also highlighted the practice of de-energiz- ing and locking/tagging out all power sources before working on equipment. Cloud Peak Energy Spring Creek Coal, Haul Truck Crash — June 23 The second quarter was just days from ending when U.S. coal recorded one more fatality at a Montana surface com- plex. At press time, the powered haulage fatality — the eighth death in coal in 2014 — was also the most recent. Officials identified the victim as haul truck driver Stewart Orcutt, 58; Orcutt had been driving a Komatsu 830E haul truck when it traveled through a berm at the Big Horn County operation and descended about 75 ft down a slope where it came to rest at the bottom of a V spoil trench. The incident occurred at about 7:35 a.m. June 23 at the mine's Ramp 65 Dump in Pit 4, an initial report listed his time of death at 8:23 a.m., a little less than an hour later. Because the final investigation report on this incident was still not released as of press time, it is not yet known on an official basis the events that led up to the truck traveling over the berm. However, in its safety findings released some weeks later, MSHA seemed to focus on training, control and knowledge of the machine's capabilities. In its best practices, inspectors highlighted miners' knowledge of a truck's operating ranges, load limits, and safety features as well as other capabilities, and to always ensure workers are properly trained on the equipment that they will operate. Additionally, federal officials refer- enced conducting pre-operational checks to identify and repair defects on mobile equipment before it is put into service, as well as the maintenance of adequate berms. Final Reports Released April-June As for receiving final answers to the above surface death, or any of those fatalities that occurred in the second quarter, it may be months or even longer until some of these questions are answered. However, MSHA did release several final investigation reports for coal Roof bolter William-Daniel Payne received fatal injuries on May 14 in Illinois when he was pinned between a bolter and the rib while tramming. Perhaps the most alarming dots that can be connected amongst those incidents that took five lives in three months is the fact that only one of the workers had more than five years of experience.

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