UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

Southeastern District
Metal and Nonmetal Mine Safety and Health

ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION REPORT
SURFACE NONMETAL MINE
FATAL POWERED HAULAGE ACCIDENT

Mine I.D. No. 01-02140
Alexander City Quarry
Davidson Mineral Properties
Alexander City, Coosa County, Alabama

March 14, 1995

By

H. L. Verdier
Supervisory Mine Safety and Health Inspector

And

R. J. Grabner
Mine Safety and Health Inspector

Originating Office
Mine Safety and Health Administration
135 Gemini Circle, Suite 212
Birmingham, Alabama 35209
Martin Rosta, District Manager

GENERAL INFORMATION

Bobby V. Sanford, quality control person, age 60, was fatally injured at about 1:30 p.m. on March 14, 1995, when he lost control of the water truck he was operating while descending the ramp into the quarry. The victim had a total of 4 years mining experience, all with this company.

The MSHA Southeastern District Office in Birmingham, Alabama, was notified at 3:30 p.m. on the day of the accident, by a telephone call from Bob Maness, area manager for the mining company. An investigation was started the following day.

The Alexander City Quarry, a crushed granite operation, owned and operated by Davidson Mineral Properties, a subsidiary of Benchmark Materials, Incorporated, was located off Highway 22, on County Road 32, about 6 miles west of Alexander City, Coosa County, Alabama. Senior operating officials were Fred Nix, vice president and Jeff Ellis, general manager. The plant and quarry were normally operated 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. A total of 17 persons was employed.

The granite was mined by drilling and blasting multiple benches.

Broken material was loaded into haul trucks by front-end loaders and transported to a primary crusher. The material was then conveyed to the plant for secondary crushing, screening, sizing and then stockpiled by conveyor. The finished product was sold primarily as construction aggregates.

The last regular inspection at this operation was January 25-26, 1995. MSHA is prohibited by budget restrictions from enforcing the training requirements of 30 CFR, Part 48, Subpart B at this crushed granite operation. A review of company records indicated the victim had received annual refresher training on March 31, 1994.

PHYSICAL FACTORS INVOLVED

The declined roadway where the accident occurred was hard, dry and approximately 1215 feet in length, 40 feet wide, and had a grade of 7 to 9 percent. There was a 45 degree left turn approximately 600 feet from the top, where the descending roadway began. The elevated portion of the roadway was bermed.

The vehicle involved in the accident was a Euclid articulated water truck with the water tank mounted on a single axle trailer, serial number 43FDT5122, manufactured between 1945 and 1946. The truck was powered by a 180 horsepower, 641 Detroit diesel engine and had an Eaton 5-speed manual type transmission. The overall length of the water truck was 43 feet. The trailer axle tire size was 2400X25, the rear axle tire size was 2100X24 and the front axle tire size was 1200X24. The water tank had a capacity of 2500 gallons and was equipped with two baffles inside the tank to impede water movement from front to back, but none to impede movement from side to side. At the time of the accident the tank was filled with approximately 1200 gallons of water.

The factory-installed primary braking system was an air drum/shoe type service brake. During the investigation the rear axle wheels on the truck were removed and the brake linings on these wheels were found to be in good condition. When external air was connected to the truck, the rear axle brakes functioned properly.

One shoe on each wheel of the trailer wheel brakes was completely worn out. When external air was connected, the trailer wheel brakes would not function at all and there was a severe air leak in the right rear air chamber.

The parking brake was a drive-line, disk/shoe, manually-operated type braking system. The parking brake handle linkage that locked and released the brake was missing and one pad of the brake lining was completely worn out.

The water truck was equipped with a canopy and a functional seat belt.

DESCRIPTION OF ACCIDENT

Bobby V. Sanford (victim) reported for work at his usual starting time of 7:00 a.m. He worked at his regular job of quality control until about 1:00 p.m. when he decided to water the roadways, which he did occasionally as warranted by weather and road conditions. Paul Wilman, superintendent (witness), helped the victim prime the water pump to fill the tank, then proceeded into the quarry. At about 1:30 p.m., Wilman and Paul Baird, leadman(witness), were in the quarry marking rip-rap. Baird stated he could hear the water truck as it began its descent down the ramp and remarked to Wilman that the truck seemed to be going too fast. Because of the berm along the descending roadway, Wilman and Baird could not see the truck until it had traveled about 600 feet and rounded the 45 degree turn in the ramp. The truck rounded the turn in the middle of the roadway, traveled about another 135 feet, turned onto its right side and slid about 5 feet before coming to rest. Wilman, Baird and Richard Smith, pit foreman, ran to the accident site. The victim was in the cab of the truck with his left hand pinned between the cab and the roadway. Wilman checked the victim for a pulse, but could not find one. Smith shut off the engine which was still running.

The local ambulance service was called and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene by the county coroner. The medical examiner determined cause of death to be traumatic asphyxiation.

The truck, when set back on its wheels, appeared to be in fourth gear. The victim was not wearing the seat belt that was provided.

CONCLUSION

The direct cause of the accident was the inadequate braking system which was unable to stop the truck as it gained excessive speed while rounding the curve.

Contributing to the severity of the accident was failure of the water truck driver to wear the provided seat belts.

VIOLATIONS

Citation No. 4300559 was issued on March 23, 1995, under the provisions of Section 104(a) for violation of Standard 56.14131(a):

A fatal accident occurred on March 14, 1995, when a water truck operator lost control of the vehicle while descending the ramp into the quarry, causing the vehicle to roll onto its right side. The water truck operator was not wearing the seat belt that was provided.

This citation was terminated on March 23, 1995. A safety meeting was held with all employees at the mine site and the requirements for wearing seat belts were discussed.

Citation No. 4300560 was issued on March 23, 1995, under the provisions of Section 104(d)(1) for violation of Standard 56.14101(a)(1):

A fatal accident occurred on March 14, 1995, when a water truck operator lost control of the vehicle while descending the ramp into the quarry, causing the vehicle to roll onto its right side. The rear wheel service brakes were not operable in that: the brake lining on both rear wheels was worn out and there was a severe air leak in the right rear air chamber.

This is an unwarrantable failure.

This citation was terminated on March 23, 1995. The water truck has been removed from the mine property and is being disassembled.

Order No. 4301041 was issued on March 23, 1995, under the provisions of Section 104(d)(1) for violation of Standard 56.14101(a)(2):

A fatal accident occurred on March 14, 1995, when a water truck operator lost control of his vehicle while descending the ramp into the quarry, causing the vehicle to roll onto its right side. The parking brake on the truck was not operable in that: one pad of the park brake lining was completely worn out and the locking mechanism to hold the brake on was missing.

This is an unwarrantable failure.

This order was terminated on March 23, 1995. The water truck was removed from the mine property and is being disassembled.

Order No. 4301043 was issued on March 23, 1995, under the provisions of Section 104(d)(1) for violation of Standard 56.14100(a):

A fatal accident occurred on March 14, 1995, when a water truck operator lost control of his vehicle while descending the ramp into the quarry, causing the vehicle to roll onto its right side.

Records show that this truck had been operated 14 times since January 1, 1995, but there are no records to show that a pre-shift inspection to identify safety hazards has ever been completed.

This is an unwarrantable failure.

This order was terminated on March 23, 1995. The water truck has been removed from the mine property and is being disassembled.

Respectively submitted by:

/s/ H.L. Verdier
Supervisory Mine Inspector

/s/ R.J. Grabner
Mine Safety and Health Inspector

Approved by:
Martin Rosta, District Manager
Related Fatal Alert Bulletin:
[FAB95M11]