Section foreman Jim Carmack, 42, was installing rib support at Lone Mountain Processing’s Clover Fork No. 1 operation when a rib/roof fall occurred.
“A section of the rib measuring 12 feet wide, 15 feet 6 inches high, and nine feet thick struck and dislodged a large Heintzmann roof jack, causing the jack to strike the victim,” federal officials said just after the accident.
Carmack, who had 17 years of mining experience, was working with a crew on retreat mining in the 15 to 16ft high section.
To help prevent similar incidents at other US mines in the future, MSHA compiled a list of several best practices for miners. They include:
- Conduct roof evaluations when entering a previously mined area for the purpose of pillar recovery
- Support loose ribs or roof adequately or scale down material before beginning work
- Conduct thorough pre-shift and on-shift examinations of the roof, face, and ribs immediately before work or travel in an area and thereafter as conditions warrant
- Know and follow the approved roof control plan. Take additional measures to protect persons if unusual hazards are encountered
- Ensure the roof control plan is suitable for prevailing geologic conditions. Revise the plan if conditions change and the support system is not adequate to control the roof, face, and ribs
- Be alert to changing geological conditions which may affect roof, rib and face conditions
Federal officials encourage anyone with additional prevention ideas to submit them through its website, including the year of the fatality and the fatality number.
Carmack’s death was the 38th in the industry in the 2010 calendar year and the second classified by MSHA under Fall of Face, Rib, Pillar or Highwall.
According to MSHA statistics, three non-fatal days lost operator injuries were reported for the Harlan County operation in 2009, when crews worked 297,986 man hours to produce just over 849,000 tons.
