Motorman Ryan Thatcher, 27, died at about 7pm local time July 11 at Martin County Coal’s Voyager No. 7 mine near Inez while working at a ventilation overcast at crosscut number 96 along the No. 1-A belt conveyor. His death occurred while he was transporting materials using a diesel-powered 15-ton locomotive.

“When the locomotive approached a low, steel, over-cast beam, the victim placed his head outside of the operator's compartment and was struck by the steel beam and the locomotive's canopy,” the agency said.

“Initial reports indicate Mr Thatcher was operating a track locomotive pulling two car loads of supplies in the mine when the accident occurred,” Kentucky Office of Mine Safety and Licensing spokesperson Dick Brown said last month just after the incident.

There were no eyewitnesses. A US Mine Safety and Health Administration spokesperson confirmed that the victim was found unresponsive by a belt examiner and that continued resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.

Thatcher, who had more than six years of mining experience, had worked at the mine for about two-and-a-half years.

To help prevent future similar incidents at other US operations, MSHA compiled best practices for mines, especially the importance of keeping all body parts within the operator’s compartment of a piece of equipment while it is moving. Also, mines should ensure that all of its track-mounted equipment has adequate clearance throughout the mine.

Workers must always look in the direction the equipment is moving and, in areas of low clearance, exercise caution. Hazards presented by low clearances can be mitigated by conducting proper workplace and travelway examinations.

Finally, MSHA recommends the installation of warning signs to alert equipment operators to low clearance areas were speed should be reduced.

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.

Thatcher’s death is the tenth in the industry in the 2011 calendar year and the third classified by MSHA under powered haulage.

The Voyager No. 7 operation is a two-section room and pillar operation.