Miner Jason Stacey, 40, was welding at the Superior Cleaning Plant in Maitland July 27 when he was electrocuted while welding to connect two pipes together.

“He was working in the ceiling of the filter room of a preparation plant,” MSHA said in its preliminary findings released this week.

“This area, where the welding was being conducted, was wet and the illumination was limited. The victim contacted an energized welding electrode.”

The worker had 22 years of mining experience, 15 months of which were at the plant site.

State Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training spokesperson Leslie Fitzwater confirmed just after the incident that the foreman/welder was an employee of Illinois-based independent contractor Mike Dover Corporation.

To help prevent future similar incidents at other mines, MSHA urged miners to never touch an energized electrode with bare skin and to avoid wet working conditions.

“A person's perspiration can lower the body's resistance to electrical shock,” investigators pointed out.

“Do not drape electrode wires or leads over your body.”

Individuals working in a confined space should do so only when it is well ventilated and illuminated, and a plant structure should never be used as a work/return conductor.

“Connect the work cable (return) as close to the welding area as practical to prevent welding current from traveling unknown paths and causing possible shock, spark, and fire hazards,” MSHA said.

While performing electrical work, individuals should insulate themselves from the work and the ground with dry insulating mats, covers, clothes, footwear, and gloves. Always ensure the gloves are dry and free of damage.

Finally, MSHA said, use voltage reduction safety devices, if available, for arc welding.

Federal officials encourage anyone with additional prevention ideas to submit them through its web site, including the year of the fatality and the fatality number.

The agency has developed a safety target package on welding safety; it can be found at http://www.msha.gov/Safety_Targets/MaintenanceMNM/Welding 20safety.pdf.

Stacey’s death was the eleventh recorded in the US this year and the fourth in West Virginia.

MSHA said it was the first to be classified as electrical, and noted that no electrical deaths occurred in coal mining in 2010.

Superior Cleaning, owned by Superior Processing, was undergoing renovation and not processing coal at the time of the accident.