Miner Charles Michael Hall, 46, was working at Mingo Logan Coal’s Mountaineer II operation in Logan County August 15 when he was struck and killed by a portion of mine roof that fell from an area adjacent to a longwall shield.
“The accident occurred during a longwall move, while the victim was installing a wooden crib in an area where a longwall face shield had been removed previously,” investigators said, noting that Hall had five years of experience with the activity.
The bituminous coal operation, which sold 5.1 million tons of coal last year, is owned by Arch Coal.
To prevent future similar incidents at other US operations, MSHA released its preliminary findings in a fatalgram and also issued several best practices for mines including sharing and discussing roof control plans with all workers on a regular basis.
All operations must also ensure that roof control plans are suitable for the prevailing geological conditions at their respective mines. Should roof geology changes have an impact on the stability of the roof, the techniques in use for roof support should be re-evaluated.
At the time of specialized work, such as longwall moves, management of operations should also provide additional training that places a focus on the best practices for the involved tasks.
All workers should remain vigilant to changing roof conditions; frequent examinations of conditions noting changes can prevent exposure to poor roof.
Finally, as hazardous roof conditions are detected, MSHA said, these areas should be marked off as dangerous until they are made safe.
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.
According to MSHA data, Mountaineer II commenced production in September 2005. The mine’s longwall, according to the company’s statistics, began operations in October 2007.
Hall’s death is the 14th (13th classified by officials as reportable) during the 2011 calendar year and the first to be classified as due to a fall of roof or back.
The fatality was also the second in the month of August alone.
On August 8, a worker at American Energy’s Century longwall operation in Ohio, controlled by Murray Energy, died after being struck in the chest by the top of a base lift jack cylinder of a roof support.
