Fatality #10 - May 22, 2008

At approimately 1:00 p.m. on May 22, 2008, a 64-year old locomotive operator (motorman) was fatally injured when he was pinned between a locomotive (motor) he had been operating and a longwall shearer body he was assisting in transporting. The car on which the shearer body was being transported (carrier) derailed as it was ascending an incline inby a dip in the track entry. The victim was assessing the situation from a location between his motor and the de-railed carrier when his motor, which was coupled to another inby motor, rolled or slid down slope in the outby direction, crushing him between the shearer body and the motor. 



Factors related to the accident include: (1) material had been allowed to accumulate on the mine floor outside the track rails and between rails that caused the carrier to derail, (2) the carrier was being pushed along the main haulage road, (3) the two inby motors were stopped on an incline and the parking brakes were not properly set, (4) positive-acting stop blocks or derails were not used to protect persons from danger of run-away haulage equipment, and (5) the victim positioned himself in a pinch point between rail equipment.