A contract laborer died when he fell from an elevated platform at a coal mine. An investigation found that his employer’s failure to ensure the use of PPE was the root cause of the fatal fall.
An investigation by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) found that the miner, who was making repairs to a piece of equipment, fell because the company didn’t ensure that its workers used safety belts and lines while working at heights.
Repairs performed between 5th, 6th floors
Jeffrey Phillips, a 44-year-old contract laborer with more than 13 years of mining experience, was working for NexGen Industrial Services, a company that specializes in oil and gas, mine, fabrication and electrical services and pipeline construction.
NexGen was contracted by West Virginia’s Ohio County Coal Resources to service a belt conveyor in the Ohio County Mine’s preparation plant.
On Jan. 14, 2022, Phillips traveled with the rest of the NexGen crew to the plant’s feed transfer belt conveyor to discuss the work to be done on the equipment. The conveyor was located between the fifth and sixth floors of the plant. A snub roller on the conveyor was damaged and needed to be replaced.
The NexGen crew split up to gather tools, perform lockout/tagout procedures and check on some other things before starting work. Phillips and a co-worker retrieved their tools and then began working to relieve tension on the belt before dismantling the snub roller. They removed the damaged roller, moved it down the catwalk onto a landing below, and then moved the new roller up the catwalk and prepared it for installation.
Co-worker told him to use PPE just before his death
While they were working, Phillips and his co-worker both used fall protection on two separate occasions earlier in the shift. As they were preparing to install the new snub roller, Phillips had to climb on the top belt to operate a chain hoist. He wasn’t wearing fall PPE as he was performing this task.
The co-worker told Phillips twice to put on his fall PPE, but Phillips didn’t listen. A short time later, the co-worker bent down to see how high Phillips would have to hoist the roller to install it and saw Phillips fall from the belt to the fourth floor below. Another member of the NexGen crew was nearby and heard Phillips’ co-worker calling for help. At 11:14 a.m., the two crewmembers hurried to the fourth floor where they found Phillips lying on the concrete. He had no pulse.
A short time later, other members of the NexGen crew arrived, performed first aid and attempted CPR until EMS arrived. EMS was unable to resuscitate Phillips. He was pronounced dead at 11:34 a.m.
Investigators: No problems with gear, no other hazards present
MSHA investigators found that NexGen had a written policy that miners would wear fall protection wherever there was a hazard of falling. They inspected the fall PPE that was onsite and found:
- it was all in good condition
- it had all of its attachments in place, and
- there were suitable anchorage points available.
Pre-shift examinations by the mine operator found no hazards or violations in the general area of the incident and investigators determined that no other hazards existed that would have contributed to the incident.
Records revealed that Phillips had been up to date on all of his required training, including fall protection.
Root cause: Failure to ensure use of PPE
The MSHA investigation team found that the root cause of the incident was NexGen’s failure to assure that its workers used safety belts and lines while working from elevated work locations.
NexGen has since developed and implemented an updated training plan on the effective use of safety belts and lines and retrained its employees according to the updated plan.