METAL/NONMETAL MINE FATALITY - On August 6, 1999, a 49-year-old equipment operator with 1 year mining experience was fatally injured at a sand and gravel operation. The victim was operating a front-end-loader, dumping waste over the edge of a roadway on an impoundment. The material collapsed causing the loader to fall on it's side and slide down the elevated embankment. The victim was not wearing a seat belt.
Best Practices
Dumping locations should be inspected prior to work commencing and material should be dumped back from the edge where the ground is unstable.
Berms or impeding devices should be installed at dumping locations to prevent over travel.
Dumping facilities should be constructed of materials capable of supporting the loads to which they will be subjected.
Equipment operators should always wear seat belts.
This is the 30th fatality reported in calendar year 1999 in the metal and nonmetal mining industries. As of this date in 1998, there were 32 fatalities reported in these industries. This is the 11th fatality classified as Powered Haulage in 1999. There were 13 Powered Haulage fatalities in the same period in 1998.
