DIXON, Ky. (AP) - An investigation into an accident that killed a coal miner in Western Kentucky last year found he was crushed after workers propped up an 18-ton machine with a stack of wooden boards that gave way.
The Lexington Herald Leader reports (https://bit.ly/2227srw ) the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration faults the company for failing to put adequate procedures in place for propping up suspended equipment.
Rickey Thorpe was killed Sept. 16 at the Onton No. 9 mine in Webster County. That’s an underground mine operated by Sebree Mining, a subsidiary of Alliance Resource Partners.
According to the investigation, Thorpe was an electrician who was helping repair a valve on a continuous mining machine.
Workers had propped up the heavy cutter head boom on the machine with a stack of 2-inch-thick boards instead of the manufacturer’s approved steel chocks.
As Thorpe leaned under the suspended boom, the boards gave way with a loud pop and it fell and crushed him.
It took nearly 90 minutes for workers to lift the boom and pull out Thorpe’s body.
MSHA said the mine operator failed to train Thorpe in the hazards of working under suspended loads.
Violations by the mine operator cited by the federal inspectors include one listed as an “unwarrantable failure” to comply with the law because a supervisor saw Thorpe working in an unsafe condition and did not stop it.
Thorpe’s death was one of only two at Kentucky coal mines in 2015, tying the record for the lowest number of fatalities.
There have already been two deaths at Kentucky mines this year.
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Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, https://www.kentucky.com
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