COAL MINE FATALITY - On Tuesday, September
12, a shuttle car operator was electrocuted. The shuttle
car operator was returning to the face from the section dumping
point when he apparently stopped the shuttle car. After exiting
the operator's compartment, he received a fatal electrical shock
from the energized frame of the shuttle car. Investigators found
a damaged place with an exposed power conductor on the trailing
cable for the shuttle car the victim was operating. This bare
place is believed to have been in contact with the shuttle car's
cable guide at the time of the accident. In addition, a grounded
phase was found in the trailing cable of a second shuttle car on
the section. The two electrical faults combined with the very
wet condition of the section appear to have resulted in a phase
to phase voltage condition at the time of the accident.
Investigators determined that the grounding resistor and ground
wires were intact at the time of the accident, however, the
ground phase protection for the two shuttle cars was not
maintained functional.
This is the 31st coal mine fatality in 1995. As of September 12
last year there had been 33 fatalities. This death is the fifth
classified as ELECTRICAL in 1995.
Line drawing of the accident scene
For more information:
MSHA's Fatal Accident Investigation Report [FTL95C31]
