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COAL MINE FATALITY - On Saturday, April 15, 1995, at 8:40 p.m., a foreman was fatally injured when he fell from an elevated walkway platform on a coal shovel. A mechanic had been using a cutting torch to remove a damaged steel mesh platform on the elevated walkway along side of the boom of a large coal shovel. After cutting through most of the platform, the mechanic traveled down the walkway steps to retrieve the replacement steel mesh. The foreman apparently approached the walkway steps from the side of the shovel opposite the side the mechanic had left by. It is believed the foreman climbed the walkway steps and stepped onto the platform. The platform broke loose and the foreman fell 26 feet to a steel structure below.

This is the 11th coal mine fatality in 1995. As of April 15 last year, there had been 12 fatalities. This death is the second classified as FALL OF PERSON in 1995.

Photograph of the accident scene

For more information:
Fatal Alert Bulletin Icon MSHA's Fatal Accident Investigation Report [FTL95C11]