He had removed the enclosure’s panel cover and was troubleshooting or performing electrical work on the 600-volt alternating current roof bolting machine when he was electrocuted.

The US Mine Safety and Health Administration posted several lessons from the incident.

The first is that maintenance personnel should wear properly rated and well maintained electrical gloves when troubleshooting or testing energised circuits.

“After locating the electrical problem and before performing electrical work, open the circuit breaker and disconnect and lock out and tag out the visual disconnecting device,” MSHA said.

“Use properly rated electrical meters and non-contact voltage testers to ensure electrical circuits are de-energised prior to performing electrical work.

“Perform your own lock-out and tag-out procedure and never rely on others to do this for you.

“Install warning labels on a circuit breaker’s line side terminals stating that the terminal lugs remain energised when the circuit breaker is open.

“Develop, communicate and execute a written plan before performing electrical troubleshooting and repair to ensure that safety is maximised for all miners involved in the task.”

It is the coal mining industry’s ninth fatality reported in 2014.

As of this date in 2013 there had been 14 fatalities reported in the coal mining industry, although none of those had been classified “electrical” as this was.