A volatile surface claimed the life of a mine worker.
Authorities recently examined what caused a haul truck to fatally overturn at an undisclosed operation on 22 May 2023.
“The edge of the bank at a dump point gave way. The haul truck landed on the roof of the cab,” the Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration said in a safety alert.
The operator died at the scene.
Investigators made the following recommendations:
- wear a seatbelt
- clearly mark dump locations with reflectors and/or markers
- install advanced systems that restrain employees during rollovers
- conduct workplace and ground condition examinations before work begins
- construct substantial berms as a visual indicator to prevent over travel
- dump material from a safe location and push the material over the edge with a bulldozer
- ensure dump locations on unconsolidated material are properly designed, constructed and maintained
- never load material from the toe of a stockpile that is directly below an active dump point due to the risk of an over steepened and unstable slope.
