A miner has sustained serious injuries after being pulled a conveyor while standing on the blade of bulldozer to dislodge an ice buildup, according to the latest serious accident alert from The Mine Safety and Health Administration. The victim unbolted and lowered a point of contact guard exposing the moving conveyor rollers on one side of a stacking conveyor which had not been de-energized, locked out, or blocked against motion.
Best Practices:
- Do not perform work on a belt conveyor until the power is off, locked, and tagged, and machinery components are blocked against motion.
- Before beginning any work, ensure that persons assigned to work on belt conveyors are task trained and understand the hazards associated with the work to be performed.
- Never clean pulleys or idlers manually while belt conveyors are operating.
- Identify hazards around belt conveyor systems.
- Design and securely install guarding to ensure miners do not contact moving machine parts.
- Do not wear loose fitting clothing when working near moving machine parts.
- Provide emergency stop mechanisms at the control panel(s) and at ground level where maintenance or repair work is performed.
