Twenty-one-year veteran mechanic/contractor John Workman, 47, died March 12 at the Appalachian Fuels Alloy Prep Plant No. 1 facility when he was removing a front guard assembly (bellypan) from a bulldozer and it fell on him.

“The bellypan was being supported by a chain attached to the victim's truck mounted crane (boom) which was being operated by the victim via a remote control under the bulldozer," MSHA said in its preliminary report of the accident.

“The victim was found lying on his right side with the crane control at his waist and an impact wrench near his right hand."

To help prevent such accidents at other mines, MSHA has offered the following best practices:

Always follow the equipment manufacturer's recommended maintenance procedures when conducting repairs to machinery;

Install blocking materials before mounting bolts are removed from machinery components which may fall during disassembly; and

Conduct training for miners assigned to new work tasks to ensure they are aware of the health and safety aspects and safe work procedures related to the assigned tasks.

Workman's death is the sixth for US coal mining so far this year, and the second classified as Machinery by MSHA.