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COAL MINE FATALITY - On Monday, July 5, 1999, a preparation plant electrician was checking a Square D, Type 6 P Limit Switch to determine why the heavy media vessel motor had stopped operating. Apparently, the victim was attempting to remove/repair the limit switch, which was located on the vessel refuse chute when he received a fatal electrical shock.

MSHA-Fatal Alert Bulletin Drawing
BEST PRACTICES
  • All circuits should be de-energized before work is started.

  • A proper means of frame grounding should be utilized at all locations where a hazard exists.

  • Proper lockout and tag procedures should be followed at all times.
  • This is the seventeenth fatality reported in calendar year 1999 in the coal mining industry. As of this date in 1998, there were fourteen fatalities. This is the first fatality classified as Electrical in 1999.

    For more information:
    MSHA's Fatal Accident Investigation Report [FTL99C17]