METAL/NONMETAL MINE FATALITY -On October 26, 1999, a 46-year-old miner with 13 years mining experience was fatally injured at an underground limestone mine. The victim was hand-scaling a pillar when rock fell from the rib and struck him.
Best Practices
Elevated areas should be scaled using mechanized scalers prior to assigning persons to scale manually from ground level.
When manual scaling is required, fractured or loose rock must be scaled from locations that protect persons from falling material.
This is the 45th fatality reported in calendar year 1999 in the metal and nonmetal mining industries. As of this date in 1998, there were 45 fatalities reported in these industries. This is the third fatality classified as Fall of Face/Rib in 1999. There were no Fall of Face/Rib fatalities in the same period in 1998.
For more information:
MSHA's Fatal Accident Investigation Report