On Wednesday, December 12, 2007, at approximately 6:00 a.m., David Whiting, a 31 year old contract coal truck driver employed by Trimac Transportation Service, Inc., was fatally injured at C.W. Mining Company Bear Canyon surface facility in a powered haulage accident. Whiting was in the process of hooking up a tow chain to the front of his Kenworth tractor and double belly-dump trailers, which had lost traction and became stuck on the road to the loadout, when the accident occurred. An employee for C.W. Mining Company brought a Komatsu front-end loader to the site to tow Whitings truck. While installing the tow chain, the loader began moving downgrade, bumped the loader operator out of the way and crushed Whiting between the rear bumper of the loader and the front bumper and grill of the truck, causing fatal injuries. The cause of the accident was a failure in the parking brake system of the loader, which did not allow the parking brakes to apply. Moisture had frozen in the air lines due to outside temperatures of approximately 20 degrees Fahrenheit. This prevented the required air pressure needed to operate the park brake valve, which causes the brake spring to apply the brakes. Contributing factors were the failure to block the wheels of the loader to prevent accidental movement when the loader was left unattended on a grade, the lack of a pre-operational inspection by the loader operator to examine for safety defects, the condition of the roadway, which caused the haul truck to become stuck needing towing assistance, and the failure of the mine operator to provide hazard training to the victim.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Coal Mine Safety and Health Report of Investigation: Surface Facility Fatal Powered Haulage Accident, December 12, 2007, at Bear Canyon C.W. Mining Company, Huntington, Emery County, Utah. ID No. 42-02395


    Contributors:
    D. Durrant (author) / R. Boyle (author) / C. Bordea (author) / R. Gunderson (author) / K. Norton (author)

    Publication date :

    2007


    Size :

    15 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English