Service man Rhett Mosley, 32, was driving a tandem axle lube truck down a grade into an active work area at Rex Coal’s Rex Strip No. 1 mine November 23 and lost control of the vehicle.
After striking an embankment, the vehicle overturned onto its left side. Mosley, who had six years of experience, either jumped or was thrown from the truck.
To help prevent future similar incidents at other operations, the agency is highlighting the importance of conducting pre-operational safety checks of all mobile equipment and the correction of any defect prior to use.
Road crews should ensure all haulage roads are constructed to the appropriate grades and lane widths for all equipment used at the minesite, and all outer banks of elevated roadways should have adequately maintained berms.
For operators of mobile equipment, MSHA stressed the use of a seat belt at all times, and operators must ensure that all employees have been trained on proper operation procedures for equipment as well as hazard recognition and avoidance. Drivers should also heed traffic rules, signals and warning signs at all times, while mines must ensure such signage and equipment is posted.
Mines must keep equipment braking and steering systems in good repair and adjustment, and the safety features, load limits, operating ranges and overall capabilities of trucks should never be exceeded. For those behind the wheel, vehicles should always be operated in the appropriate gear and changing gears while descending a grade should be avoided.
Finally, MSHA said operations must ensure there is sufficient illumination for working areas, and that lights on all mobile equipment are maintained. Workers should also never exit or jump from a moving vehicle.
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.
MSHA has also developed a safety targets program for operating surface equipment at coal mines. More information on that initiative can be found at the agency’s web site, www.msha.gov.
Mosley’s death was the 47th fatality in US coal mining in 2010, and the eighth to be classified by MSHA under Powered Haulage.
