MSHA - Metal and Nonmetal Mine Fatal Accident Investigation Report: Fatality #22 - June 14, 2000 - Powered Haulage - LA - Excalibar Minerals

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UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
Metal & Nonmetal Mine Safety and Health

REPORT OF INVESTIGATION

Surface Nonmetal Mill
(Barite)

Fatal Powered Haulage Accident
June 14, 2000

M. Matt Durand, Inc.(5TJ)
St. Martinsville, St. Martin Parish, Louisiana

at

Excalibar Minerals
Excalibar Minerals Inc.
New Iberia, Iberia Parish, Louisiana
ID No. 16-01302

Accident Investigators

Jerry A. Millard
Supervisory Mine Safety and Health Inspector

Joseph A. Olivier
Mine Safety and Health Inspector

Eugene D. Hennen, P.E.
Mechanical Engineer

Leland R. Payne
Mine Safety and Health Specialist

Originating Office
Mine Safety and Health Administration
South Central District
1100 Commerce St., Room 4C50
Dallas, TX 75242-0499
Doyle D. Fink, District Manager

OVERVIEW

On June 14, 2000, Russell P. Domingue, contract equipment operator, age 44, was fatally injured when he was run over by a 25-ton haulage truck. Domingue had left his crawler tractor (dozer) to assist a fellow miner who was having trouble dumping his loaded truck. Domingue was walking back to his dozer when a second truck ran over him.

The cause of the accident was management's failure to establish effective traffic control for the safe movement of mobile equipment. A warning had not been sounded prior to moving the truck, which contributed to the accident. Other contributing factors were impaired operator visibility and failure to provide all appropriate Part 48 training.

Domingue had a total of three years and eight months of experience as an equipment operator, all with this contractor, and had worked intermittently at this mine during the past two years. He had received new (inexperienced) miner training on January 7, 1998, and hazard training on June 6, 2000. Annual refresher training was not received in accordance with 30 CFR Part 48.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Excalibar Minerals, a surface barite milling operation, owned by Newpark Resources and operated by Excalibar Minerals, Inc., was located in New Iberia, Iberia Parish, Louisiana. The principal operating official was Douglas H. Weeks, plant manager. The mill normally operated two, eight-hour shifts. The first shift worked Sunday through Thursday and the second shift worked Tuesday through Saturday. Total employment was nine persons.

Raw Barite ore was purchased from a European supplier who arranged to have the product shipped to the U.S. and delivered to the mill site in barges. The material was off-loaded with an excavator onto haul trucks, which transported the ore to an on-site stockpile. The stockpiled material was wheel loader fed to the plant where it was crushed, milled, and screened. The finished product was sold in packaged and bulk form.

The victim was employed by M. Matt Durand, Inc., an independent contractor, located in St. Martinsville, Louisiana, which was hired to off-load the raw ore from barges and stockpile the material at the mill site. The principal operating official was M. Matt Durand, president. Five persons were employed on an intermittent basis.

The last regular inspection of this operation was completed on October 14, 1999. A regular inspection was conducted following this investigation.

DESCRIPTION OF ACCIDENT
On the day of the accident, Russell P. Domingue (victim) reported to work at 6:00 a.m., his normal starting time. Domingue and his fellow workers initially made repairs to the excavator. After the repairs were completed, the five miners discussed the loading procedures, dumping locations, and traffic patterns they would use.

Off-loading of the ore began at about 10:00 a.m. Two Cameco, Model 405-B, 25-ton haulage trucks transported the ore from the barges to the stockpile area. The trucks backed to the base of the stockpile and dumped. After the seventh load of the day was dumped, Domingue, the dozer operator, pushed the dumped ore onto the stockpile to a height of 11 feet.

About 11:30 a.m., the men stopped for lunch. Douglas Weeks, plant manager, joined the contractors crew and conducted site hazard training.

Off-loading the ore resumed at 12:15 p.m. At 4:45 p.m., Brett C. Gonsoulin, truck driver, backed his haul truck to the base of the stockpile. He encountered a problem raising the bed of the truck. Domingue, who had been sitting on his parked dozer, dismounted and walked across the stockpiling area to assist Gonsoulin. He stood at the left (north) side of the truck as he talked to Gonsoulin.

About that time, Charles J. Judice, truck driver, arrived at the stockpile, backed his haul truck along the right side (south) of Gonsoulin's truck, and began dumping material. Domingue walked in front of Judice's truck toward the parked dozer. Judice began driving the truck forward while turning hard to the right. To observe the truck bed lowering, Judice was looking over his right shoulder. He had moved forward approximately 43 feet from the stockpile when he looked forward to see if he had cleared the parked dozer. Judice felt a bump and saw a pair of sunglasses fly out from the left side of the truck. He stopped immediately, looked down, and saw Domingue lying on the ground behind the left front wheels.

The victim was checked for vital signs but none were found. The New Iberia Parish coroner was notified. Death was attributed to crushing trauma to the chest.

INVESTIGATION OF THE ACCIDENT
MSHA was notified at 5:00 p.m. on the day of the accident by a telephone call from Douglas H. Weeks, plant manager, to Willard J. Graham, supervisory mine safety and health inspector. An investigation was started the same day. MSHA's accident investigation team traveled to the mine, conducted a physical inspection of the accident site, interviewed a number of persons, reviewed documents relative to the job being performed, and reviewed the victim's training records. An order was issued under the provisions of Section 103(k) of the Mine Act to ensure the safety of the miners. MSHA conducted the investigation with the assistance of mine management, general contractor management, and employees. The miners did not request, nor have, representation during the investigation.

DISCUSSION

• The accident occurred at the stockpile farthest from the barge dock. The stockpile was being advanced from west to east. The main roadway to the mill ran parallel to the stockpile on the north side. The trucks were dumping from south to north along the east face of the pile. The east face of the stockpile was about 80 feet long with enough room for seven loads to be dumped before it was necessary for the dozer operator to push the dumped loads.

• The raw ore stockpiles were about 200-300 feet northeast of the docks and about 50 feet from the mill feed bin. Raw ore was off-loaded from each barge and hauled to a predetermined area, where shipments were segregated from each other until the lab completed grade assays to determine barite content. During the dumping cycle, a contract sampler collected a sample from the fifth load dumped.

• The dozer pushed the dumped ore into a stockpile approximately eleven feet in height. Since the dump site was subject to change with each barge, traffic patterns also changed.

• The haul truck involved in the accident was a 25-ton Cameco, Model 405-B, Serial No. 2738, articulated end-dump, four-wheel drive, equipped with dual wheels at all four corners, manufactured in 1987. The truck was powered by a 250-hp, model 3306T Caterpillar diesel engine. The net weight of the truck was 44,000 pounds.

• The truck was manufactured without cab doors. The operator's cab was provided with a windshield and side windows. The windshield and windows of the No. 3420 truck were plexiglass. The side windows were dirty, scratched and discolored. Visibility was impaired due to the deteriorated condition.

• The horn on the haul truck was not functional.

• The haul truck operators had not been instructed to sound a warning prior to moving their truck.

• Sound level meter readings taken during the truck dumping cycle indicated noise levels ranging from 80 dBA to mid-90 dBA. CONCLUSION
The root cause of the accident was management's failure to establish effective traffic control for the safe movement of mobile equipment. A warning had not been sounded prior to moving the truck, which contributed to the accident. Other contributing factors were impaired operator visibility and failure to provide all appropriate Part 48 training.

ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
Excalibar Minerals

Order No. 7869321 was issued on June 14, 2000, under provisions of Section 103(k) of the Mine Act:

A fatal accident occurred at the stock area of the plant when a dozer operator was run over by a Cameco 405-B 25 ton haul truck. This order is issued to assure the safety of persons in the affected area until it can be returned to normal mining operations as determined by an authorized representative of the Secretary. The mine operator shall obtain approval from an authorized representative for all actions to recover equipment and/or restore operations in the affected area. This order was terminated on June 17, 2000, after it was determined that the mine could safely resume normal operations.

Citation No.7869379 was issued on September 12, 2000, under the provisions of Section 104(a) of the Mine Act for violation of 30 CFR 56.14200:

A fatal accident occurred at this operation on June 14, 2000, when a crawler tractor operator was run over by a Cameco, 25-ton haul truck at the stockpile dump site. The victim was walking back to his crawler tractor when the accident occurred. The haul truck operator did not sound a warning or use other effective means to warn the crawler tractor operator. This citation was terminated on September 13, 2000, after all employees received additional training and instructions on sounding a warning prior to moving mobile equipment.

Citation No. 7869380 was issued on September 12, 2000, under the provisions of Section 104(d)(1) of the Mine Act for violation of 30 CFR 48.25:

A fatal accident occurred at this operation on June 14, 2000, when a crawler tractor operator was run over by a Cameco, 25-ton haul truck at the stockpile dump site. The victim was walking back to his crawler tractor when the accident occurred. Charles Judice had been operating the truck at this operation for two (2) days prior to the accident. Charles Judice had not been trained in Newly Employed Inexperienced Miner training. This citation was terminated on September 13, 2000, when Charles Judice was removed from this job site permanently.

Citation No. 7869381 was issued on September 12, 2000, under the provisions of Section 104(a) of the Mine Act for violation of 30 CFR 56.14103(a):

A fatal accident occurred at this operation on June 14, 2000, when a crawler tractor operator was run over by a 25-ton haul truck at the stockpile dump site. The victim was walking back to his crawler tractor when the accident occurred. The windows in the Cameco, 405 B, company number 3420 were dirty, scratched, and discolored from age to the point where the operator's vision was restricted. The windows were not being maintained to provide visibility for safe operation. This citation was terminated on September, 13, 2000, when the side windows of the truck were removed pending replacement.

M. Matt Durand

Citation No. 7869382 was issued on September 12, 2000, under the provisions of Section 104(a) of the Mine Act for violation of 30 CFR 56.14132(a):

A fatal accident occurred at this operation on June 14, 2000, when a crawler tractor operator was run over by a Cameco, 25-ton haul truck at the stockpile dump site. The victim was walking back to his crawler tractor when the accident occurred. The haul truck horn was not functional. This citation was terminated on September 13, 2000, when the horn was repaired.

Order No. 7869383 was issued on September 12, 2000, under the provisions of Section 104(g)(1) of the Mine Act for violation of 30 CFR 48.25:

A fatal accident occurred at this operation on June 14, 2000, when a crawler tractor operator was run over by a Cameco, 25-ton haul truck at the stockpile dump site. The victim was walking back to his crawler tractor when the accident occurred. Charles Judice had been operating the truck at this operation for two (2) days prior to the accident. Charles Judice had not been trained in Newly Employed Inexperienced Miner training. This citation was terminated on September 13, 2000, when Charles Judice was removed from the mine site permanently.

Citation No. 7869384 was issued on September 13, 2000, under the provisions of 104(a) of the Mine Act for violation of 30 CFR 56.14103(a):

A fatal accident occurred at this operation on June 14, 2000, when a crawler tractor operator was run over by a 25-ton haul truck at the stockpile dump site. The victim was walking back to his crawler tractor when the accident occurred. The windows in the Cameco, 405 B, company number 3420 were dirty, scratched, and discolored from age to the point where the operator's vision was restricted. The windows were not being maintained to provide visibility for safe operation. This citation was terminated on September 13, 2000, when the side windows of the truck were removed pending replacement.

Related Fatal Alert Bulletin:
FAB2000M22

APPENDICES
A. Persons Participating in the Investigation
B. Persons Interviewed

APPENDIX A
Persons Participating in the Investigation

Excalibar Minerals, Inc.

Douglas H. Weeks . . .. . . . . . . . . . plant manager M. Matt Durand, Inc.

Mine Safety and Health Administration

APPENDIX B
Persons Interviewed
Excalibar Minerals Inc.

Dusry Ross Vaughn . . .. . . . . . . plant supervisor M. Matt Durand, Inc.

Newpark Drilling Fluids Inc.

Randy Gene Campbell . . .. . . . .truck driver (customer) Ahnight N.A. Limited

Frank D. Montoro . . .. . . . . . . senior sampler supervisor


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