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COAL MINE FATALITY - On Thursday, November 1, 2001, a 25-year-old coal truck driver was fatally injured in a surface haulage accident. The victim had started his shift at 6:00 p.m. and had made one round trip from the mine to the dumping facility. Upon returning to the pit area he stopped behind two other trucks that were waiting to be loaded. The victim exited his truck, walked around to the right side and positioned himself between the tractor and trailer, directly in front of the tractor's rear tires. The trailer service side air supply hose was found disconnected, this allowed release of the brakes. The victim was crushed beneath the tractor tires as the truck drifted forward about 20 feet down a slight grade, and struck the rear of the next truck parked in line. The victim used the hand control valve, which applied the air operated trailer brakes but did not have the parking brake set which is spring actuated and air released. An air leak was found in the trailer service side air supply hose glad hand connection.

Photo of Truck    Photo of Air Supply Hose

Best Practices

  • Perform pre-operational safety inspections of your equipment

  • Understand and follow the safe operating procedures for your equipment

  • Parking brakes must be set before exiting the equipment.

  • Turn the engine off, place the transmission in gear, set the park brake and always make sure the equipment is securely blocked against motion, before performing repair or maintenance work
More Information E-mail Suggestion for Accident Prevention Program 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.

This is the 35th fatal accident reported for the coal mining industry in calendar year 2001. As of this date in 2000, there were 33 fatalities reported in this industry. This is the 6th fatal accident, classified as powered haulage, reported in the coal mining industry in 2001. At this time in 2000, there were 9 fatal accidents, classified as powered haulage, in the coal mining industry.

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This bulletin is part of the Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA) program to alert the mining industry in a timely manner of a tragic loss of life in the mines. We encourage you to consider the above information as you make safety decisions for or recommendations to your company or constituency. The information provided in this notice is based on preliminary data ONLY and does not represent final determinations regarding the nature of the incident or conclusions regarding the cause of the fatality.

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




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