In February 2014, 24-year-old Arthur Gelentser died after he was crushed by a continuous mining machine in an underground Virginia coal mine. In November of that year, 67-year-old James Crane was killed when his dump truck tumbled backward 30 feet (about 10m) down an embankment at a sandstone mine in Pennsylvania.
In both cases, investigators found the incidents could have been prevented if safety procedures were followed.
This is little solace for the family and friends of Gelentser, a husband and father of two, or Crane, whose wife and three daughters share the same fate as the loved ones of seven other truck drivers who died in metal and non-metal accidents in 2014, according to assistant secretary of labour for mine safety and health Joseph Main.
“The fatalities in 2014 – historic lows in coal fatalities amid increases in metal and nonmetal deaths – remind us all of the progress we’ve made and the work ahead of us,” he said.
“Zero annual fatalities are absolutely possible. It is a goal we pursue daily. Going forward, MSHA is determined to make mines safer and healthier places to work, so miners can work and then return home safe and healthy after each shift. We owe our miners that much.”
From January 1 to March 31, 2015, 10 miners died in accidents in the US mining industry. Four were killed in coal mining accidents and six in metal and non-metal mining accidents.
