Foreman Wilson Meade, 58, was working at the D&C Mining Corporation mine in Harlan County the evening of June 9 when the chain that attached a rubber-tired supply car to an S&S model 482 scoop failed.

The loaded supply car then rolled down a grade and through a ventilation curtain, striking Meade and pinning him between the car and a mobile bridge conveyor near where he was working.

The agency determined in its root cause analysis that mine management had “failed to have a policy in place to ensure cars were properly coupled to the tow vehicle”, and ordered the mine to develop and implement a written procedure for proper attachments.

“Scoops will be equipped with a properly sized clevis to accept the tongue,” MSHA noted in its investigation.

“Supply cars will be attached to the scoops with no less than a 4-inch wide by 16-inch long by 1-inch thick tow bar coupled with a 1.25-inch diameter pin with a lock, [and] a 0.375-inch high-strength safety chain will also be maintained between the scoop and the supply car.”

The agency said that any trailer at the mine to be towed by a mantrip buggy would be coupled with a 0.625in or greater diameter pin that had a lock and further secured by a 0.25in high-strength safety chain. Additionally, maximum gross vehicle weights for towed units at the mine would be 10,000 pounds for scoops and 5,000lb for buggies.

The operation has trained its staff in the new procedures, MSHA noted.

D&C, which extracts from the 36-60in Blue Gem seam, completed its last federal inspection on May 28, just two weeks before the incident.

The operation’s non-fatal days lost injury incidence rate for the first quarter of 2009 was zero, versus the national average of 4.3.