COAL MINE FATALITY - On Sunday, October 29, 2000, a 50 year old maintenance foreman, with 24 years mining experience, was fatally injured in an accident that occurred in the bunker area of an underground mine. The victim was performing maintenance on a chain conveyor system when the mounting arm for a hydraulic motor broke loose from its anchor point. The mounting arm rotated upward, cutting through the steps on which the victim was standing, striking the victim's left leg and torso resulting in severe lacerations and loss of blood.

   

• Design considerations should be given to the placement of walkways or work stations where the potential of failure of machine components exists.
  
  
• Regular examinations of structural components should be conducted.

	Submit your own suggestion for a remedy to prevent this type of accident in the future. Please specify if you wish your submission to be anonymous or whether your name may be used. Please include the year of the fatality and the fatality number.