Tag: #miner

Mobile Mining Operations & Equipment – Health Alert

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

HEALTH ALERT Mobile  
Mining Operations & Equipment

Best Practices
  • Control workplace environments to ensure compliance with the dust permissible exposure limits.
  • Engineering controls reduce dust at its source.

– Dust collector systems

– Enclosures and booths

– Use water for dust suppression

  • Sprays
  • Water Trucks

– Environmental cabs

  • Maintain equipment per manufacturer’s recommendations.
  • Provide respiratory protection and ensure it is worn.
  • Have a compliant respiratory protection program (RPP).

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by MSHA

MSHA – Mine Fatality #30

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

MINE FATALITY – On August 30, 2023, a belt foreman died when a belt conveyor take-up unit component broke and struck him.

Accident scene where a belt foreman died when a belt conveyor take-up unit component broke and struck him.
Photo property of MSHA
Best Practices
  • Examine work areas for hazards found during the shift. Report hazards and defects immediately and do not work in unsafe conditions.
  • Ensure there are no obstructions in the travel path of the belt conveyor take-up system prior to tensioning.
  • Examine any belt or linkage assembly for signs of deformation such as cracking, lateral deflection or distorted connections.
  • Train miners to recognize and avoid potential hazards from sudden releases of stored energy.
Additional Information

This is the 30th fatality reported in 2023, and the sixth classified as “Powered Haulage.”

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by MSHA

MSHA – Mine Fatality #29

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

MINE FATALITY – On August 24, 2023, a miner died while preparing a wash plant for relocation. In the process of lowering the feed box into the travel position, the miner was pinned between the feed box and the handrail.

Accident scene where a miner died while preparing a wash plant for relocation.
Photo: MSHA
Best Practices
  • Block machinery components against motion before beginning maintenance or repairs.
  • Do not work under suspended loads.
  • When conducting a non-routine task, review safe procedures before starting work and ensure all safety components are in place and working.
Additional Information

This is the 29th fatality reported in 2023, and the 13th classified as “Machinery.”

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by MSHA

White House reviewing MSHA rule on surface mobile equipment safety

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
Photo property of MSHA

Washington — A Mine Safety and Health Administration final rule that would require mine operators to have a written safety program for mobile and powered haulage equipment is a step closer to publication.

Received by the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review on Sept. 8, the potential regulation would apply to operators with six or more miners and would cover equipment – except belt conveyors – at surface mines and surface areas of underground mines. The review is one of the final steps in the regulatory process. When the review is completed, MSHA will publish the final rule in the Federal Register.

“Mine operators would be required to assess hazards and risks and identify actions to reduce accidents related to surface mobile equipment,” MSHA says in the Spring 2023 regulatory agenda. “The operators would have flexibility to develop and implement a safety program that would work best for their mining conditions and operations.”

MSHA published a notice of proposed rulemaking in September 2021 and conducted a public hearing on the regulation in January 2022.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

MSHA – Mine Fatality #27

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

MINE FATALITY – On August 5, 2023, a customer truck driver fell from a large container mounted on the trailer of his truck. After opening the container lid, the driver slipped while descending the container.  The driver died from his injuries on August 7, 2023.

MSHA – Mine Fatality #27

Photo property of MSHA

Best Practices
  • Provide fall protection or safe means of access to miners, contractors, and customers who need to gain access to containers or tankers if there is danger of falling.
  • Ensure miners, contractors, and customers wear proper slip resistant footwear and use three points of contact when accessing elevated surfaces.
  • Provide site-specific hazard awareness training to customers, including commercial over-the-road truck drivers.
Additional Information

This is the 27th fatality reported in 2023, and the third classified as “Slip or Fall of Person.”

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by MSHA

MSHA – Mine Fatality #26

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
Accident scene where a piece of granite fell, striking two miners, killing one and seriously injuring the other.
Photo property of MSHA
Best Practices
  • Examine work areas to identify loose ground or unstable conditions before work begins and as conditions change.  Report hazards and do not work in unsafe conditions.
  • Correct unsafe conditions or barricade areas to prevent access before beginning work.
  • Consider mining methods that do not require miners to work or travel near the base of a highwall.
Additional Information

This is the 26th fatality reported in 2023, and the second classified as “Falling, Rolling, or Sliding Rock or Material of Any Kind.”

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by MSHA

MSHA – Mine Fatality #25

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

MINE FATALITY – On July 17, 2023, a miner died while performing repairs on a gyratory crusher. When a component was being suspended by a crane, a lifting eye welded to the component broke free striking the miner.

Axxident scene where a miner died while performing repairs on a gyratory crusher.
Photo property of MSHA
Best Practices
  • Ensure that all miners stay clear of stored energy while performing repairs.
  • A certified welder should weld any lifting eye and ensure the welding rod is suitable for the materials joined together.
  • Examine lifting equipment and connection points for cracks or deformation prior to lifting.
  • Use low energy ropes and straps to minimize rebound effects when objects break.
Additional Information

This is the 25th fatality reported in 2023, and the 11th classified as “Machinery.”

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by MSHA

MSHA – Mine Fatality #24

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

MINE FATALITY – On June 22, 2023, a contract bulldozer operator died when the bulldozer he was operating backed off the edge of a highwall.  The bulldozer operator was clearing the bench in preparation for drilling and blasting and had removed the berms along the edge.

Accident scene where a contract bulldozer operator died when the bulldozer he was operating backed off the edge of a highwall.
Photo property of MSHA
Best Practices
  • Install berms, signs, or devices to identify the edge of benches.
  • Perform workplace examinations and correct hazardous conditions before beginning work and as ground conditions warrant.
  • Train equipment operators to identify dangerous conditions and to keep the bulldozer blade between them and the edge near drop-offs.
Additional Information

This is the 24th fatality reported in 2023, and the tenth classified as “Machinery.”

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

Original article published by MSHA

MSHA – Mine Fatality #3

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Original article published by MSHA

MINE FATALITY – On January 23, 2023, a utility management miner died, and another miner was seriously injured, while removing unused waterline pipe suspended from a mine roof.  The two miners were using hand tools to remove a pipe fitting when the waterline pipe suddenly came apart, striking the victim.

Accident scene where a utility management miner died, and another miner was seriously injured, while removing unused waterline pipe suspended from a mine roof.
Photo property of MSHA
Best Practices

Operators should:

  • Release stored energy and pressure from pipes (block and bleed) before breaking a pipe connection.
  • Lock out, tag out, and block equipment from movement before performing maintenance or repairs.
  • Train miners in the safe performance of their tasks.
Additional Information

This is the third fatality reported in 2023, and the second classified as “Machinery”.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

MSHA – Mine Fatality #23

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Original article published by MSHA

MINE FATALITY – On June 9, 2023, a contract truck driver died when an excavator bucket struck him.  A contractor crew was using the excavator to assist in unloading a fuel tank from a lowboy trailer when the excavator bucket suddenly moved.

Accident scene where a contract truck driver died when an excavator bucket struck him.
Photo property of MSHA
Best Practices
  • Do not place yourself in a position that exposes you to hazards.
  • Follow the manufacturer’s warning and engage safety lock mechanisms before getting out of the operator’s seat.
  • Train miners in safe work procedures and hazard recognition before working around moving equipment.
Additional Information

This is the 23rd fatality reported in 2023, and the eighth classified as “Machinery.”

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.