Fatality #18 - July 25, 2008

At approximately 1:05 p.m. on Friday, July 25, 2008, Elden Todd Meadows, age 44, a roof bolting machine operator with 22 years of mining experience, was fatally injured at Consolidation Coal Company's Buchanan Mine #1. The victim was installing roof support with the left side of a Fletcher dual-head roof bolting machine in the 3 Right crosscut on the 004-0 Mechanized Mining Unit (MMU), located on 12 Right panel off of 3 East Mains. The victim was marking roof bolt locations between the Automated Temporary Roof Support (ATRS) and operator's canopy, when a section of mine roof fell. The falling rock struck the victim, forcing him into the inby edge of the operator's canopy, resulting in fatal head trauma. 



A roof anomaly (slickensided slip) was present, but not detected during the roof examination conducted prior to roof bolting operations in the 3 Right crosscut. The slip fell without warning while roof bolt locations were being measured and marked. 



Another factor which contributed to the accident was the positioning of the operator's canopy. The canopy was positioned 20 inches below the mine roof.