After three miners were involved in separate preventable accidents, MSHA has released safety alerts for highwalls, dozer entrapment and haul truck rollovers. The agency reported that on September 30, a miner sustained permanently disabling injuries while operating a Caterpillar 992K front-end loader beneath a highwall. A roughly 50-foot section of highwall fell onto the loader, crushing the cab and pinning…
Read MoreTag: haul truck
MSHA reports two more fatalities
MSHA reported that on Nov. 5, a miner at Samuel G. Hurworth in Crane County, Texas, died when the haul truck he was operating over travelled a dump point. The edge of the dump point failed, causing the haul truck to travel backwards, overturn and land on the roof of the cab. This is the 26th fatality reported in 2024,…
Read MoreMSHA issues haul truck roll over safety alert
MSHA reported that on Oct. 9, a 60-ton haul truck was dumping a load of material when the dump point sloughed off, causing the haul truck to slide down and overturn, coming to rest upside down 15 ft. below. The driver was rescued from the truck through the side window of the cab with minor injuries. MSHA recommends the following…
Read MoreMine manager pleads guilty to second-degree manslaughter
MSHA announced that an upstate New York court accepted a mine manager’s guilty plea to manslaughter in the second degree for the death of a mechanic at R J Valente Grafton Quarry in October 2022. Anthony Valente admitted to causing Darren Miller’s death by recklessly disregarding and overriding safety features of a crane he was operating to lower a replacement…
Read MoreMSHA alert: truck dumping safety
MSHA reported that on January 2, the driver of an over the road tractor-trailer haul truck died when the trailer tipped over onto the cab of the tractor. The driver was dumping part of the load of gravel from the trailer. Between 2018 and 2024, mine operators reported 14 injury accidents where over the road trucks tipped or rolled over…
Read MoreWhen life hands you an imminent danger order, pay attention
By Willa B. Perlmutter One of my very favorite clients recently sustained a self-inflicted and completely avoidable (and expensive) wound. Since I can’t go back and prevent it from happening, I hope that maybe I can keep the rest of you from falling into the same trap. Let’s talk about what happened. One morning, I received an email from my…
Read MoreMSHA reports 32nd fatality of 2023
MSHA reported that on Sept. 12, a haul truck operator at Cape Sandy #1, Crawford, Ind., died after his haul truck backed through the berm at a dump point and became submerged in a pond. This is the 32nd fatality reported in 2023, and the eighth classified as “Powered Haulage.” MSHA recommends the following best practices to avoid this type…
Read MoreMSHA issues safety alert after rash of electrocutions
The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration is reminding miners to stay clear of the line of electrical fires after three miners were electrocuted in a 10-day period. The agency said that, on January 27, two truck drivers were electrocuted after an overhead power line came in contact with their trucks. They exited their cabs only to come in contact…
Read MorePhilippi-Hagenbuch launches rear-eject body for Volvo A60H
Philippi-Hagenbuch Inc. has expanded its rear-eject engineering capabilities to include the largest articulated haul truck on the market – the Volvo A60H. The trucks feature a body volume of 43.9 cubic yards with a 2:1 heap ratio, making these rear ejects 50% larger than the most common rear-eject bodies available. In partnership with G.W. Van Keppel, a dealership based in…
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