Surface Crushed, Broken Limestone - An excavator slipped into a lake while excavating sand. The driver walked away without any injuries.
Best Practices
- Examine working places, identify hazards, and assess and control risks. Be alert to changing ground conditions such as cracking, bulging, sloughing, undercutting, and erosion. Maintain a safe distance from the edge of excavations and slopes.
- Ensure all miners are trained to recognize workplace hazards, evaluate the stability of the ground prior to operating equipment near any drop off or edge.
- When operating equipment on soft or unconsolidated material, what may appear to be a good operating surface can quickly liquefy and create an unstable condition.
- Discuss safe work procedures before beginning work. Identify and control all hazards associated with the work to be performed and the methods to properly protect miners.