METAL/NONMETAL MINE FATALITY - On September 22, 1995, an electrician with 27 years of
mining experience died from serious flash burns he
received on August 23, 1995, at an underground potash
mine. The employee was in the process of testing the
electrical bus bars to a motor control center. As he was
preparing to change the incoming leads to obtain correct
rotation on the motors, the tool he was using made contact
between one phase and the grounded enclosure of the
energized 480-volt motor control center. This is the 34th
fatality reported in calendar year 1995 in the metal and
nonmetal mining industries. As of this date in 1994,
there were 31 fatalities reported in these industries.
This death is the fourth fatality classified as electrical
this year. There was one electrical fatality during the
same period in 1994.
MSHA's Fatal Accident Investigation Report [FTL95M34]