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COAL MINE FATALITY - On Friday, March 6, 1998, a 26-year-old electrician trainee was preparing to leave the section at the completion of his owl shift assignment. The electrician-trainee crawled around behind the manbus, positioning himself between the coal pillar corner rib and the manbus (with approximately 2 feet of clearance), to converse with co-workers. A scoop was tramming up the No. 6 entry toward the check curtain installed at the end of the pillar block. The scoop operator was articulating the scoop from left to right while tramming slowly so it would not tear the curtain down and sounding the warning bell. Just as the scoop operator's deck cleared the curtain, the operator felt a bump. The left corner of the scoop bucket had struck the front left corner of the manbus pushing it back against the rib, thus pinning the electrician-trainee between the manbus and the rib, inflicting fatal crushing injuries to the chest area.

BEST PRACTICES
  • Equipment should be parked away from curtains a sufficient distance to allow moving equipment enough room to clear the curtain while passing through.
  • This is the eighth fatality reported in calendar year 1998 in the coal mining industry. As of this date in 1997, there were 4 fatalities. This is the second fatality classified as POWERED HAULAGE in 1998.

    For more information:
    Fatal Alert Bulletin Icon MSHA's Fatal Accident Investigation Report [FTL98C08]