MSHA Fatalities Involving Drilling Operations

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MSHA Fatalities Involving Drilling Operations
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MSHA FatalityINVOLVING DRILLING OPERATIONS

• On February 17, 1995, a driller with six months
  of mining experience was killed at a limestone
  quarry. There were no witnesses to the accident.
  The employee was operating a track drill. He was
  found dead wrapped around the drill steel. It is
  believed that the employee's clothing got caught
  on the moving drill stem.
• On February 14, 1996, a mechanic (contractor
  employee)  with 24 years of mining experience was
  killed at a sand and gravel operation. The
  employee was preparing to repair the hydraulic
  hose on a hydraulic track drill when he was run
  over by the drill. The drill operator was
  tramming the drill backwards to an area where the
  hose could be repaired. When the drill operator
  turned the drill 90 degrees, he noticed the
  mechanic under the crawler track. The victim died
  from crushing injuries.

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MSHA FatalityINVOLVING DRILLING OPERATIONS

• On February 26, 1997, a driller (contractor
  employee) with 8 years of mining experience was
  killed at an iron ore pit. The employee was
  drilling the surface above an abandoned
  underground mine shaft when the ground caved in
  under the drill head. The employee fell 20-feet
  down a mine raise opened up by the drilling and
  was buried under material at the bottom.
• On April 1, 1997, a driller with nearly 10 years
  of mining experience was killed at a limestone
  mine. The employee was drilling blast holes using
  an air-track drill in preparation of removing an
  additional 25 feet of the floor from the existing
  drift when a ground fall occurred from a pillar,
  crushing him.

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MSHA FatalityINVOLVING DRILLING OPERATIONS

• On September 3, 1997, a contractor driller with 9
  years of mining experience was killed at a
  limestone quarry. The victim had been drilling a
  blast hole about 4 feet from the edge of a
  92-foot highwall. He was adding drill steel when
  the hammer feed chain broke causing the victim to
  fall over the edge. The victim was not wearing a
  safety belt and line.
• On February 3, 1997, a driller with 5 years of
  mining experience was killed at a zinc operation.
  The employee was operating a single boom jumbo
  drill, drilling blast holes in a brow. The victim
  was crushed when a massive roof fall occurred
  which collapsed the canopy.

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MSHA FatalityINVOLVING DRILLING OPERATIONS

• On Monday, October 5, 1998, the operator of a
  highwall drill, while at the operating controls,
  was fatally injured when a large piece of rock
  fell from the highwall onto the cab of his drill.
  The rock fell 20 feet to a safety bench, split,
  then fell an additional 55 feet onto the top of
  the cab. The portion of rock that struck the
  highwall drill completely destroyed the
  operator's cab.

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MSHA FatalityINVOLVING DRILLING OPERATIONS

• On Thursday, January 7, 1999, a highwall drill
  operator, while inside the operator's cab, was
  fatally injured when a portion of the highwall
  collapsed. Large pieces of sandstone fell from
  the highwall causing severe damage to the drill
  and the operator's compartment. The portion of
  the highwall which collapsed measured
  approximately 50 feet in height by 60 feet in
  width.

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MSHA FatalityINVOLVING DRILLING OPERATIONS

• On January 27, 2000, a 49 year-old driller with
  11-½ years mining experience was fatally injured
  at a crushed stone operation. The victim had
  positioned his truck mounted drill parallel to
  the edge of the high wall in preparation for
  drilling. The stabilizers were lowered and as the
  drill mast was being raised, one of the
  stabilizers sank into the ground causing the
  drill to overturn. The drill fell over the
  highwall edge, crushing the operator's cab.

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MSHA FatalityINVOLVING DRILLING OPERATIONS

• On April 22, 2002, a 22 year-old drill operator
  with one year mining experience was fatally
  injured at a dimension stone quarry. The victim
  was drilling in the quarry when his clothing
  became entangled in the rotating drill steel.

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MSHA FatalityINVOLVING DRILLING OPERATIONS

• On June 12, 2002, a 35-year-old maintenance
  worker with 7 years mining experience was fatally
  injured at an alumina operation. The victim was
  drilling out scale that had accumulated inside
  heater tank pipes. The drill motor, detached from
  the gear box, fell from the drill mast and struck
  the victim.

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MSHA FatalityINVOLVING DRILLING OPERATIONS

• On September 10, 2002, a 58 year-old drill
  operator with 15 years drilling experience was
  fatally injured at a crushed stone operation. The
  victim had positioned the truck-mounted chassis
  drill, set the jacks and raised the truck chassis
  off the ground. He was raising the drill mast
  into position when a previously damaged jack foot
  connection may have allowed the "ball end" to
  suddenly drop into the receiving socket. This
  caused the drill to become unstable, tip over and
  crush the operator inside the operator's cab.

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MSHA FatalityINVOLVING DRILLING OPERATIONS

• On July 19, 2004, a 41 year-old contractor
  driller trainee with 20 years mining experience
  was fatally injured at a surface granite
  operation. The victim fell from the top of a
  highwall as he was re-threading a drill steel in
  a vertical drill.

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MSHA FatalityINVOLVING DRILLING OPERATIONS

• On March 24, 2004, a 41-year-old, driller with 22
  years mining experience was fatally injured at a
  crushed stone mine. The victim was using a track
  mounted drill to drill blast holes. Apparently,
  he attempted to manually thread a new drill
  steel, with the mast vertical and the drill head
  rotating, when the rotating steel entangled him.

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MSHAs Best Practices

• Highwalls should be examined often, especially
  during periods of changing weather conditions.
• The ground control plan at every mine should be
  followed
• All miners should be trained to recognize
  hazardous highwall conditions.
• Drill operators should not drill from positions
  that increase exposure to highwall hazards.