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MSHA's Safety Targets Program
Block Against Motion
From January 2000 to 2009, there have been 35 fatalities resulting from the failure to "Block Against Motion." Of these 35 fatalities, 23 occurred in Metal/Non-metal Mines while 12 occurred in Coal Mines. There were six fatalities underground and 29 on the surface. MSHA believes that all of these types of accidents can be prevented if mine operators train miners to follow the simple guidelines outlined in this "Block Against Motion Safety Target Package."

This package includes information addressing the safety hazards associated with failure to properly block equipment, mobile machinery, and supplies against unexpected motion. MSHA is providing this information to increase hazard awareness and to improve miners' ability to recognize risks related to failure to properly block against motion. This information is useful to surface and underground workers at both Coal and Metal/Nonmetal mines because:
  • Many new miners have been hired in recent years;
  • Many experienced miners are performing tasks other than their regular tasks and may be unaware of the hazards involved with failure to properly block against motion; and
  • All miners should periodically be reminded of the dangers of failing to properly block against motion.
Every operator and worker at all mining operations should be given this information so that they can learn about accidents involving the failure to properly block against motion and the measures that they can take to prevent similar accidents.

Please share this information with your co-workers and discuss it at safety meetings. If you have questions or need additional copies of this information, please contact Michael Getto by phone
at 304 547 2303 or by email at getto.michael@dol.gov.



Content
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Block against Motion    Block against Motion



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