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Unforgivable safety failures led to death of miner

APPALLING safety violations and failure of MSHA officials to inspect a Cody Mining Company mine led to the death of a young miner, according to the results of a MSHA investigation.

Angie Tomlinson
Unforgivable safety failures led to death of miner

"This was one of the most poorly managed and operated coal mines where safety is concerned that I've seen during more than 30 years in the field of mine safety," said MSHA’s Dave Lauriski after the investigation report on the explosives accident at the Cody Mining Company was released.

The Number 1 mine incident in June claimed the life of a 21-year-old Kentucky miner and injured two others.

MSHA investigators found that seven serious violations by Cody contributed to the accident, six of which were considered an "unwarrantable failure" to comply with Federal law. They also cited the company for 64 non-contributing violations of mine safety rules found during the accident investigation. Fifty-six of these were considered unwarrantable failure violations.

"This company recklessly disregarded rules intended to protect workers on the job. We intend to pursue this case to the fullest extent allowable by law," said Lauriski.

Each violation cited by accident investigators carries a civil penalty of up to $60,000. Penalties will be determined at a later date.

Investigators found poor mining practices at the site resulted in excessive entry and crosscut widths, undersized pillars, misaligned openings and other unlawful conditions.

The mine's preshift examinations failed to identify obvious hazardous conditions, some of which existed for extended periods of time.

Investigators found that the accident scene had been altered when a non-permissible drill was moved from the accident site. Detonation of an excessive amount of explosives was a contributing factor in the accident.

A quantity of substance found in at the accident site in a clear plastic bag was identified by the Kentucky State Police laboratory as marijuana.

In addition, Lauriski said that MSHA has examined the activities of agency personnel assigned to inspect the Cody Mine and had determined there were unexcused deficiencies in their performance. "We have taken appropriate action with regard to those deficiencies," he said.

The fatality occurred when a coal drill helper with two years total mining experience was fatally injured when the working face of a crosscut was blasted into the next outby crosscut. Two other miners were also injured in this accident, one of them seriously.

The victim and his co-workers had retreated to the last open crosscut to set off the shot in the 32-inch high seam of coal when the accident occurred. The entries and crosscuts of the working section were driven off-centers, resulting in the No. 4 Right crosscut blasting into the outby crosscut.

The cause of the accident was the failure to maintain proper sight lines and centers, the failure to conduct adequate preshift examinations, and excessive entry and crosscut widths.

According to the investigation report the mine used the method of "shooting off the solid" (drilling and blasting without using a cutting machine to create a kerf) to break coal from the working faces. With this method, coal remains confined in all directions from the loaded drill hole, except toward the working face.

Typically, several blast holes are drilled into the free face on an angle. The loaded blast holes are then timed to detonate in a sequence so that other free faces are created during the blast, which allows the coal to be broken and cast out from the face. However, when loaded drill holes are detonated near an adjacent entry or crosscut, an additional free surface is available on the opposing side of the face for releasing energy from the shot.

The report said additional care must therefore be taken when approaching adjacent mine openings to ensure that the blast of a face is designed properly so that it does not shoot into an adjacent area or back side of the face where persons may be present.

Based upon witness statements taken under oath, it was determined that an excessive amount of explosive was used in the holes drilled for blasting. Using an excessive amount of explosive further increases the danger of shooting into an adjacent area.

A non-permissible coal drill, equipped with a 12-foot auger, was being used to drill blast holes into the working faces. In this case, the 12-foot hole depth placed the explosive charge close to an adjacent mine opening, permitting the unplanned release of energy from the detonated explosives into the area occupied by the workers.

MSHA's report of the Cody Mine accident investigation can be read on MSHA's website at www.msha.gov.

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