Dozer operator Jeff Bishop was seriously injured last December 3 at Oxford Mining’s No. 3 operation in New Lexington, Perry County, when the Komatsu D475A-5E0 bulldozer he was operating travelled over a highwall and fell about 30m to the pit below.
“Bishop was in the process of clearing and grubbing topsoil and preparing the area for the next shot,” Mine Safety and Health Administration investigators revealed in their final report released on Friday, adding he was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the unit when it went over the highwall.
Bishop died on December 6 from his injuries.
An investigation revealed no evidence that the victim had been wearing his seatbelt, and a review of loose material at the base of the highwall showed a ground failure did not occur.
No machine defects were identified that would have prevented Bishop, who had 18 year’s experience as an operator, from maintaining control of the dozer or that contributed to the severity of the accident.
The MSHA said Bishop had operated the bulldozer since it arrived at the mine in 2008 and his training records revealed he was in compliance with federal regulations. His annual refresher training had been completed just weeks before the incident.
“The accident occurred because the bulldozer operator was working in close proximity to an edge of an existing highwall without an adequate berm or other indicator to identify the edge of the highwall,” federal investigators said in their report.
“Trees, brush and the irregular top edge of the highwall likely contributed to the bulldozer operator's disorientation of where the dozer was with respect to the top of the highwall. A contributing factor was failure to assure that seatbelts are worn in vehicles where there is a danger of overturning.”
To rectify the operator’s failure to assure seatbelt use, the MSHA ordered training of all employees, stressing the use of seatbelts during equipment operation.
The operator will also conduct regular safety talks to ensure equipment operators are reminded of the seatbelt requirements.
The mine submitted a revision to its ground control plan to add safety precautions to protect miners when working above pre-existing highwalls and train employees on these precautions.
Oxford received a 104(a) citation for a violation of Section 77.1710(i), relating to the missing seatbelt, and a 104(a) citation for Section 77.1607(b) because the mobile equipment operator did not have full control of the equipment operations while in motion.
Oxford No. 3 employs 52 hourly and four management employees, who extract from the No. 7 Upper Freeport, No. 6 Middle Kittanning and No. 5 Lower Kittanning seams.
The most recent regular semi-annual safety and health inspection was completed by the MSHA on September 20, 2011. The mine’s non-fatal days lost injury incidence rate for the previous quarter was 5.42. The national rate is 1.24.
