Coal Age

JUL 2015

Coal Age Magazine - For more than 100 years, Coal Age has been the magazine that readers can trust for guidance and insight on this important industry.

Issue link: https://coal.epubxp.com/i/541310

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 45 of 67

the most number of deaths with three, and two were recorded in May. F inal Federal Reports Issued MSHA's progress to release final investi- gation reports of coal deaths during the second quarter ending June 30 was not as rapid as usual, but the agency did release its findings on two single-death incidents from underground incidents in late 2014 and early 2015. The first report detailed the events of December 16, 2014, when repairman Eli Eldridge, 34, was struck by a battery ram car/coal hauler at Patriot Coal's Highland 9 complex in Union County, Kentucky. Some additional information released shortly after the incident by MSHA indi- cated that the unit was traveling toward the face area, striking the victim with the left side, trailer end of the ram car. The Union County coroner deter- mined that the victim died instantly when the accident occurred at 10:55 a.m. Eldridge, a 15-year mining veteran, had experience at his job (eight years) but had been at the mine just 36 weeks. The Non- Fatal Days Lost (NFDL) rate for the mine in 2014 was 6.49, versus the national average of 3.27 over last year for mines of this type. Investigators said a test of the No. 26 coal hauler, which involved functionality and braking systems, did not reveal any irregularities or deficiencies. However, MSHA noted that it was the second seri- ous accident and the first fatality with the hauler. The first injury accident occurred December 5, 2013, when a miner, while walking beside the de-energized hauler, walked through a ventilation curtain where the coal hauler was parked beneath the curtain. Not realizing that the miner on foot had not cleared the coal hauler, the coal hauler operator started the coal hauler and engaged the steering, which pinned the miner between the machine's bed and coal rib, breaking his leg. In its probe, the agency also obtained more information on the miner's person- al strobe light, which had been attached to the front lower portion of his belt sus- penders; interviews indicated that the victim did not have his strobe light turned on at the time of the accident. "The strobe light worked properly when it was tested," the report said. "During the investigation, it was deter- mined that the location of the victim's strobe light would have been ineffective to warn the coal hauler operator due to the raised position of the bed when the victim was struck." MSHA concluded that the blame in the fatal accident came back to the oper- ator, which "failed to provide adequate engineering controls, administrative con- trols, and acceptable work practices to protect miners" from mobile equipment hazards. "In addition, the mine operator failed to maintain the condition of the mine floor free of preventable bottom irregu- larities," the investigators wrote. "The bottom irregularities present in the inter- section of the No. 7 entry greatly reduced the coal hauler operator's field of view, until the coal hauler was clear of the bot- tom irregularities." In its corrective actions, the agency required the operator provide all miners working or traveling inby the loading point with two-way radios to use to com- municate their presence on the unit, their intended activities and route of travel. Additionally, the mine instituted a poli- cy that all rubber-tired equipment opera- tors on the working section shall sound an audible warning device before tramming the equipment in any direction. Four safeguards were issued as a result of the fatality, all citing 30 CFR Section 75.1403. The second final investigation report for the quarter was released in late June, and dealt with the February 20 roof fall at Rosebud Mining's Heilwood operation in western Pennsylvania. The victim, 29-year-old roof bolter helper Todd Trimble, who had four years in the mining industry, was instantly killed when he was crushed between a piece of roof rock and the top of a drill canopy at the mine's No. 2 slope entry. The roof rock that fell measured 3 ft wide, 11.5 ft long, and varied between 3 and 16 in. thickness. In a preliminary report released by MSHA the following day, it was revealed that Trimble had been repositioning roof mesh for the upcoming row of roof sup- ports at the time of the accident. "At approximately 2:05 p.m., Trimble was positioned between the roof bolting machine drill mast and the ATRS…wit- nesses stated that Trimble was attaching support wire to the previously installed wire roof screen and the piece of wire roof screen that would be installed," investiga- tors said in the report. "The rock fell in such a manner that the ATRS could not prevent the rock from hitting Trimble. The s a f e t y r e p o r t c o n t i n u e d 44 www.coalage.com July 2015 A rendering of an incident from December 2014 in which repairman Eli Eldridge, 34, was struck by a battery ram car at Patriot Coal's Highland 9 complex in Union County, Kentucky.

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Coal Age - JUL 2015