A mine operator’s and contractor’s failure to prevent their employees from working under raised equipment led to the death of a truck driver who was attempting to hook a chain to an excavator bucket.
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) investigators found that a 35-year-old contract truck driver was struck and killed by the bucket as he and two co-workers were unloading a fuel tank from a lowboy trailer.
First attempt to unload fails
On June 9, 2023, John Hillard Sr., a truck driver working for JD’s Custom Transport Inc., was hauling rental mining equipment to Advanced Restoration Technologies-1, a defunct surface coal mine.
JD’s was contracted by NEV LLC, the mine’s new owner, to haul the mining equipment to the mine site. NEV planned to use the equipment to turn the site into a productive mine once again.
Hillard arrived at the mine at about noon driving a semi-truck that was pulling a lowboy trailer with the 10,000-gallon fuel tank. Two other truck drivers for JD’s, Anthony Doran and Keith Rudowicz, each arrived with their tractor-trailers, which were hauling a front-end loader and an excavator, respectively.
After moving the equipment to the site where the tank would be installed, the three truck drivers stopped to discuss how to unload the tank.
Hillard then unhooked his semi-truck from the trailer and moved it out of the way to make it easier for the front-end loader and excavator to maneuver closer to the trailer to unload the fuel tank.
Doran went to the mine’s equipment area and retrieved a bulldozer, which was then positioned near the front of the fuel tank. Separate chains were attached to each side of the bulldozer’s blade and the fuel tank. Rudowicz positioned the excavator near the rear left-side of the trailer to lift the tank and prevent any potential damage to the trailer.
On the first attempt to lift the tank, the excavator was too close to the trailer and failed to complete the lift. The truck drivers repositioned the excavator farther away from the trailer and the bucket was repositioned closer to the tank.
Excavator operator accidentally moves bucket
At this point, Hillard climbed inside the trailer wheel well opening and stood on the ground between the trailer’s rear axles, which placed him between the excavator bucket and the right-side trailer frame. He was attempting to attach a one-half inch chain between the cable loop on the tank and the lifting eye on the rear of the excavator bucket.
Doran was standing on top of the right-side of the trailer frame to direct Hillard and Rudowicz. He told Hillard to get out of the wheel well, but Hillard couldn’t hear him. Rudowicz, who was inside the excavator’s cab, shouted for Hillard to move out from under the bucket, but again Hillard didn’t respond. In an effort to get Hillard’s attention, Rudowicz leaned out of the excavator’s cab and inadvertently contacted the joystick, causing the bucket to move forward and strike Hillard. Doran had to jump off of the trailer to avoid being struck by the bucket, which continued on to strike the right-side frame of the trailer.
After realizing what happened, Doran returned to the trailer and found Hillard unresponsive. Someone called 9-1-1 and emergency responders arrived onsite at around 2 p.m. Hillard was pronounced dead at 3:23 p.m.
They failed to follow manual’s safety precautions
MSHA investigators learned that the excavator was equipped with a safety locking mechanism that was located inside the cab. This locking mechanism, when activated, would prevent any hydraulic functions from engaging. Tests conducted on this mechanism showed that it worked as designed, meaning that it wasn’t activated before Rudowicz leaned out of the excavator’s cab and inadvertently contacted the joystick.
The investigation revealed that several safety precautions detailed in the excavator’s operator’s manual weren’t followed, including those saying that:
- the excavator should never be operated with a person in the swing area of the boom, or beneath the boom or bucket when using the machine to lift, lower or move objects
- the operator must securely set the pilot control shut-off lever to the locked position before getting out of the operator’s seat for any reason
- the work area around the machine should be clear of all obstacles and persons before beginning operation of the machine, and
- a spotter should direct the operator using appropriate hand signals when using the excavator to lift or move objects, and that spotter should be in a safe location at all times.
Failure to follow these precautions could lead to serious injury or death, according to the manual. Investigators determined that these procedures weren’t all being followed.
None of them were trained in safe rigging, lifting procedures
MSHA also determined that the truck drivers weren’t properly trained to perform the task of unloading the fuel tank from the trailer.
The three truck drivers “encountered complex decisions in accomplishing the task they were assigned,” MSHA’s report said. They attempted to lift the tank off of the trailer in the same way they observed NEV employees load it onto the trailer. However, none of the truck drivers were trained in safe rigging and lifting procedures. Further, there was no supervision from either their own employer or from the mine operator.
Contract truck drivers now forbidden from unloading equipment
Investigators found that the root causes of the incident were the mine operator’s and contractor’s failure to:
- prevent work from being performed under raised equipment that wasn’t securely blocked in position, and
- provide new task training for operation of the excavator in rigging and lifting procedures.
The contractor and mine operator have both developed new written procedures forbidding contract employees from loading or unloading equipment on mine property. The mine operator also revised its training plan to include a new written procedure on task training.
