Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) - Fatalgrams for the Coal Mining Accident on January 31, 2002

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Mine Safety and Health Administration
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COAL MINE FATALITY - On Thursday, January, 31,2002, a miner with 11 years of mining experience was fatally injured when he was hit by a battery powered Stamler Uni-hauler. There were no eye-witnesses, however immediately prior to the accident, the victim was reportedly seen walking from the No. 5 entry toward the No. 4 entry dragging a piece of ventilation curtain. The operator of the Stamler Uni-hauler had just pulled the equipment, battery end first, into the No. 4 entry in order to turn the equipment and start loading coal from the No. 5 entry. The victim was discovered a short time later, lying on the mine floor in the No. 4 entry, and entangled in the piece of ventilation curtain.

Drawing Depicting Accident Scene

Best Practices

Equipment operators should always insure that they maintain a safe distance between the equipment being operated and the other miners in the area.
A warning should be sounded when the equipment operator's visibility is obstructed or when direction of travel is changed.
Never position yourself in an area or location where equipment operators cannot readily see you.

	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 4^th fatal accident in calendar year 2002, for the coal mining industry. As of this date in 2001, there were no fatals for the coal mining industry. This is the first fatal accident classified as powered haulage in 2002. At this time in 2001, there were no fatal accidents classified as powered haulage for 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:
MSHA's Fatal Accident Investigation Report


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