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COAL MINE FATALITY - On Sunday, October 19, 2008, a 58-year old rock dust motorman with 30 years mining experience was fatally injured when he was pinned between a trip of empty dollies (lowboys) and the lead motor. After the dollies were uncoupled from the lead motor, the victim was removing the drawbar from one of the dollies when the trail motor traveled around a turn and struck the uncoupled dollies. The trail motor (#47) was not attached to the trip of dollies.

Diagram of accident scene described in paragraph above


Best Practices
  • Always be aware of your location in relation to mobile equipment.
  • Never place yourself between dollies/equipment unless each piece of equipment in the trip has come to a complete stop and has been secured against movement.
  • When the trail motor is not an integral part of the trip, assure that the trail motor has stopped before any work begins.
  • Communicate to others the exact stopping location of any trip.
  • Require the use trip lights when a trail motor is not coupled to the trip.
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 24th coal mine fatality in calendar year 2008. In 2007, there were 23 coal mine fatalities for the same period. This is the 9th Powered Haulage fatality for 2008. There was one Powered Haulage fatality for the same period in 2007.

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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