In March this year a miner at a surface sand and gravel mine entered a feed hopper to remove bolts on the skirt board, reports MSHA.
When he heard a bulldozer that typically pushes material into the hopper approaching, the miner tried to escape through the opening at the bottom of the hopper.
The bulldozer pushed material into the hopper, unaware that the miner was inside, burying him up to his chest.
It took emergency services approximately two hours to extricate the miner. The accident occurred in March 2017.
MSHA has the following advie to help prevent such accidents
Best Practice
- Communicate on-going jobs with all employees so they are aware of where miners may be working
- Post highly visible signs or install warning lights to alert mobile equipment operators of the presence of miners working in an area
- Erect substantial physical barriers to keep mobile equipment from entering areas where miners are working
- S L A M – Use the ‘Stop Look Analyze Manage’ approach to understand and mitigate risks.
