Surface Dimension Stone - A miner was operating a crawler hydraulic blast hole drill and the miner’s loose-fitting sweatshirt was caught in the drill steel. The miner received life-threatening injuries and thankfully was able to recover after an extended period time in a local hospital.
Best Practices
- Establish written policies for the type of clothing and methods to secure clothing when working around equipment and ensure that the policies are followed. Do not wear loose-fitting or bulky clothing when working around drilling machinery.
- Avoid using any type of object that could become entangled with or thrown from moving or rotating parts.
- Do not manually thread the drill steel while the drill head is rotating.
- Safely position hoses and cables on and around drilling equipment.
- Design proper hangers, guides, stand-offs and entrances to eliminate the necessity of handling hoses or cables in close proximity to rotating or moving equipment.
- Stop the drill rotation when performing tasks near the rotating steel.
- Ensure that the area around the drill equipment is free from tripping hazards and that drilling materials are safely arranged and wellorganized to prevent accidents.
- Ensure that machine controls and safety devices such as emergency shutdowns operate effectively.