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While the second quarter began quietly, with no fatal accidents recorded in coal at all in April and most of May, the three deaths that followed came in fairly rapid succession, and all from the eastern U.S. coalfields. Of these events, one was at a surface operation and two incidents occurred at underground mines. None were classified as the same type of event, and so far (the third fatality occurred near press time, so some information is still being confirmed), all involved appear to have had many years of experience in the industry as well as at their respective positions. May 28 — Allen Branch At Apex Energy's No. 11 Allen Branch complex in Kentucky just after the Memorial Day holiday, 45-year-old fore- man Roy Mullins was crushed after being pinned between the rear of a road grader and front of a loaded tractor and trailer. Mullins, a contractor for ST&T; Leasing, had been working in mining for 27 years. "The tractor and trailer was transport- ing a highwall miner to the job site and encountered a steep incline that could not pull on its [own] power," the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) said in a preliminary report. "A road grader was brought to assist the tractor up the incline…[and] the foreman was between the two machines connecting a chain when the grader rolled back." The mine in Phelps, Pike County, owned by Cambrian Coal Corp. had just eight workers on-site at the time, but for- tunately no one else was hurt. The event was classified by MSHA as a machinery fatality. While a final investigation report is still pending for Mullins' death, federal investigators stressed proper training and communications in a fatalgram report in the weeks following. Additionally, it urged miners to be aware of their positioning during such tasks and to never place themselves in between any kind of equipment that has not yet been blocked and secured from movement. "Turn the engine off, place the trans- mission in gear, set the park brake, and always ensure equipment is securely blocked against motion before perform- ing repair or maintenance work, which includes connecting tow bars," officials said, adding that all tow bars used should be the proper length and rating for the job. Among other best practices were the maintenance and adjustment of equip- ment braking systems — do not depend on hydraulic systems to hold mobile equipment stationary — and the perfor- mance of pre-operational examinations to identify and repair defects that may affect safe equipment operation. May 31 — Gateway News of the Allen Branch fatality had barely left our ears when, just three days later in Illinois, another coal miner lost his life on the job. The victim in this inci- dent was mine examiner Glen Campbell, 59, a 32-year mining veteran who had been at a Randolph County, Illinois, mine for more than nine years and had more than a year of examining experience. According to a preliminary report from federal investigators, Campbell — one of three workers at Peabody Midwest Mining's Gateway operation in Coulterville that day — was found in an unconscious state by another examiner at Crosscut 193 on the Main South travel- way. "The victim was driving a two-seat diesel mantrip en route to examine a set of seals," MSHA found. "The mantrip was nosed into the west rib just inby the loca- tion of the victim [along the east rib]." Despite first aid being performed on Campbell, he was pronounced dead by the coroner upon being transported to the surface. MSHA classified the death as a pow- ered haulage accident, and a subsequent fatalgram report from federal investiga- 42 www.coalage.com July 2015 s a f e t y r e p o r t 2Q Fatality Review B Y D O N N A S C H M I D T , F I E L D E D I T O R April-June quarter proves to be another active period in coal mining, particularly underground An experienced worker at Apex Energy's No. 11 Allen Branch complex in Kentucky was crushed after being pinned between the rear of a road grader and front of a loaded tractor and trailer.