Roof bolter operator William Dooley, 56, was killed on October 11 at Kingston Mining’s Kingston No. 1 underground mine in Fayette County, West Virginia, after a roof fall during the morning shift in the face area of the No. 1 entry of the No. 1 working section of the mine.
“Dooley … leaned over [the bolter’s control station] to place [a] wrench in the steel tray when a vertical section of rock brow fell, striking him and knocking him to the mine floor,” investigators noted in the report, adding the rock measured 30 inches in height, 66in in length and ranged in thickness of between 4 and 7in.
“The curved section of rock had remained intact with the top lodged on the roof bolting machine and the bottom edge on the mine floor. The victim was under the arched section of rock and his foot was caught underneath the edge of the rock, preventing a quick extrication.”
Crews administered first aid to an injured Dooley until he was taken by ambulance to a nearby medical center, where he was pronounced dead at 12.05pm the same day, about 90 minutes after the event.
MSHA conducted a review of the roof bolter in use at the mine, a Fletcher RR 2-13, and found no safety issues. Training records for the victim and the mine were up to date with no discrepancies.
Investigators, however, did find that the accident occurred because the operator failed to identify hazards at the mining area created by mining an extended cut in adverse roof conditions, and improperly supported the roof in an area of adverse conditions.
“Three roof bolts were spaced wide due to the angle of the brow, measuring distances from 56 and a half inches wide to 58 inches wide,” the agency said.
In a review of examination records, MSHA noted the mine’s pre-shift examiner recorded the presence of draw rock on the mine floor and a partial cut of coal remaining in the working area, though no other hazardous conditions were noted.
While no previous roof falls had been reported on the section, investigators found that, including the roof fall that resulted in the fatality, there had been eight reportable roof falls in the history of the mine since 1998.
“The accident occurred because the mine operator failed to support a brow properly in the No. 1 entry that was created because of mining height change,” MSHA concluded.
“The change in height occurred when an extended depth cut was taken in adverse roof conditions and the company mined under the draw rock in order to lower the cutting height.”
The agency ordered the operator to install strapping, screening and additional roof bolts in the affected area as well as amend the mine’s approved roof control plan to include the new processes.
Kingston also upgraded the roof control plan to require that all cuts be roof bolted within 24 hours.
Additionally, to correct the issues with noncompliance of the RCP, the operator conducted and documented safety meetings with each shift, outlining the requirements for extended cuts.
Management also added a provision to the plan requiring sloping or tapering of the mine roof from the upper to lower horizon in areas of abrupt vertical steps greater than 12in, so that the mine could facilitate roof bolt installation in those areas.
Kingston Mining received two 104 (a) citations for a violation of 30 CFR Part 75.220(a)(1) for failure to follow the approved roof control plan.
Kingston Mining, controlled by Alpha Natural Resources, employed 76 underground miners and six surface employees at the time of the accident. The room and pillar operation extracts from the Glen Alum seam at an average thickness of about 28in.
Prior to the accident MSHA completed the last regular safety and health inspection on September 30, 2010. The mine’s non-fatal days lost injury incidence rate in 2010 was 1.41, versus the national NFDL rate of 3.57 for underground mines.
