The needless death of yet another mine equipment operator acts as a grim reminder that seat belts save lives, as the National Highway Transportation Board advertising campaign points out.
Seat belts are important pieces of safety equipment for workers who operate cars, trucks and motorized equipment across many industries. Yet, there are workers who still ignore them and employers who fail to enforce their use.
For example, in 2023 the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has issued three investigation reports (Feb. 26, 2023; Dec. 6, 2022; and June 17, 2002) on equipment operator fatalities that involved functioning seat belts that weren’t worn when the incident occurred.
Now there’s a fourth mining-related equipment operator fatality to add to this list that could’ve been prevented if the employee had buckled up and the employer had enforced its seat belt rules.
Ejected through back window as bulldozer rolled down hill
Joshua Coleman, a 38-year-old bulldozer operator with more than 13 years of experience, was working for contractor Bizzack Construction LLC at the Elkhorn Stone mine in Pike County, Kentucky.
On March 1, 2023, Coleman was operating a bulldozer in a mining pit. As he was moving the bulldozer out of the pit, he went blade first over an earthen berm and down onto a mine road that was under construction for future mining activities.
The bulldozer over-traveled the right side of the road and went over an embankment. It turned over several times as it rolled down the steep hill before eventually landing upright on an inactive logging road more than 300 feet below the mining road it had been on.
Coleman was ejected from the bulldozer through the back window as it rolled down the hill. He was later found 106 feet below the mine road. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Seat belt had no defects but wasn’t in use at time of crash
Later, MSHA investigators inspected the seat belt and found no defects. They determined that Coleman wasn’t wearing the seat belt at the time of the incident. The mine operator and Bizzak didn’t ensure miners wore seat belts while operating mobile equipment, according to investigators.
Both companies have since held safety meetings with all miners and contractors to retrain them on policies and requirements regarding seat belt use.
