Working in confined spaces can be very dangerous. A confined space is an area with poor or no airflow.
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All energized electrical equipment carry the danger of potential arc flash at any moment.
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An electrical accident occurred on October 10, 2010, that caused the death of one contract electrician and seriously injured two coworkers.
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Three employees were seriously injured in 2012 when a front end loader tire ruptured while being inflated. The tire was being inflated in a shop and a safety cage was not used for protection.
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There has been an alarming upward trend of serious and fatal injuries involving miners who are being crushed, run over, pinned by, or struck by, moving mining equipment.
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This blasting hazard alert pertains to Orica Uni tronic? 500 electronic detonators date coded before November 15, 2009. Orica has issued a recall of these detonators. The Orica recall notice is included as part of this blasting alert.
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On June 10, 2005, an unplanned detonation of a blast hole occurred at a surface coal mine in Indiana.
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Part 1 - Inspection - Working in an elevating work platform is an inherently hazardous operation. Workers risk severe or fatal injuries from falls.

Part 2 - Operation - The hazards associated with using elevating work platforms can be minimized if the work is accomplished using the appropriate machine for the specific work and job site, and following the manufacturer's machine operating procedures.

Persons entering underground coal mines shall use only permissible electric lamps approved by MSHA for portable illumination.
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Persons entering underground coal mines shall use only permissible electric lamps approved by MSHA for portable illumination.
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The following incident took place on 23 September, 2008.

At 5:15 AM, Tuesday, September 23, a Dyno Nobel Transportation driver picked up Carbo*Prill (see Comment and Information section of this document for details) from a storage bin at the Owensboro, KY Riverport Authority site. The Port Authority Loader saw "orange glowing embers" as he loaded the Carbo*Prill into the DNTI trailer.
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Sudden unintended boom movements have been found with several Caterpillar 988G/H model front-end loaders. This condition was first discovered during the investigation of a recent metal/nonmetal mine fatality.
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Compressed gas cylinders pose an ever present hazard to miners. Each compressed gas cylinder is a sleeping giant and must be used, maintained, and handled with great care. Since 2001, there have been 22 accidents in coal mines involving explosions or fires resulting from ruptured compressed gas cylinders, hoses, gauges, or regulators.
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Don't Get Carried Away Working Around Conveyor Belts
A miner in Alaska with 32 years of experience was fatally injured at a sand and gravel operation. The victim went behind a conveyor belt take-up pulley guard and used a wood handled shovel to clean under the pulley.
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3 miners died in the last 20 months when the belt conveyor they were working on started unexpectedly, conveying them under obstructions or off the end of the belt.
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Three pipefitters were injured when a PVC pipeline exploded at a coal prep plant. A stray spark from an electric arc welder fell into the open end of a pipe assembly igniting highly flammable PVC pipe-joint cement vapor that was trapped inside the newly installed pipe.
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Since miners began to dig coal, they were always thinking of easier, faster and more productive ways to get the coal from the face to the surface.
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On October 22, 2008, a dozer operator was fatally injured when the dozer he was operating slipped and rolled sideways down a steep 80 foot incline coming to rest on its left side. This was the fourth accident in five weeks where a dozer operator was either fatally injured or suffered serious life threatening injuries.
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Electrical connectors and junction boxes used for intrinsically safe (IS) circuits must maintain proper separation between conductors of multiple IS circuits.
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Energized guy wires have killed two miners in 2006.
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Raising a hydraulic excavator to perform maintenance or repair introduces hazards to persons working around the machine. It has been found that repair shops have raised and blocked the entire machine and then lowered the bucket to the floor to provide stability.
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Workers who dig or excavate trenches are at risk of death if they enter an unprotected trench and the walls collapse. However, hazards associated with trench work and excavations are well defined and preventable.
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The atmosphere in the enclosed space of an abandoned mine shaft may be asphyxiating, toxic, flammable, or explosive. Therefore, work that will breech the seal on an abandoned mine shaft must be done with great care.
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In recent years there have been two fatalities and one near miss due to the inappropriate use of boom trucks.
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This fire hazard alert pertains to BASF Meyco? MP 367 polyurea silicate foam product.

On March 16 and 17, 2010, a mine operator was testing BASF's Meyco? MP 367 polyurea silicate foam in an abandoned conveyor belt entry of an underground coal mine in Alabama. The purpose of the test was to assess the effectiveness of the Meyco? MP 367 foam as a possible method for isolating a mine entry in the event of an emergency.
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On June 8, 2010, a fire occurred on a drill rig at a surface coal mine during fueling. The fuel truck operator was fatally injured in the fire.
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36 fuel firing explosions have been reported in the cement industry since 2001:

7 persons were seriously burned or inhaled flames or superheated gases. Numerous others were less seriously injured or narrowly escaped injury.

The explosions caused extensive equipment damage and significant system downtime.

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Gasline Safety Bulletin #1Gasline Safety Bulletin #2Gaswell Safety Bulletin #3

Underground Drilling with Augers and JacklegsSafety Precautions for Using Hand Held Drills

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Hazards associated with compressed gases used in underground coal mines...
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See Bulletin

Winter months can bring drastic changes to the stability of highwalls due to freezing and thawing.
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Old Mines Underground can Undermine Highwall Stability at Surface Mines
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Failure to maintain high-voltage switches can kill you.
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A Komatsu 685-E haul truck was operating at a surface coal mine when the bolts for the third stage piston bearing retainer from both Hoist Cylinders failed, allowing the dump bed to fall abruptly onto the frame of the truck.
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Important Safety Notice
Hands Off Rotating Drill Tools
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According to the Weather Channel website, lightning strikes the earth an estimated 100 times per second and there are as many as 20 million cloud-to-ground strikes in the U.S. per year.
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The position of the locomotive motorman is critical when transporting large pieces of equipment, such as longwall shields.
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Maintenance and repair work usually involves multiple activities
taking place at the same time.
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5 Metal and Nonmetal Miners Died In May 2010
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Accidents can be prevented
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Between January 2006 and January 2009, there have been 10 fatal and 20 non-fatal accidents involving falling/sliding material.
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MSHA has been made aware of a pre-detonation incident involving an Orica i-kon blasting system. The Orica Incident Advisory is attached to this alert. MSHA is advising every operation that utilizes blasting systems of any type to follow strict safety precautions as stated by the manufacturer, the company safety procedures, and MSHA regulations. Ensure that there is no possibility of any personnel being on or near the blasting site when the blast lines are connected to the blasting machine.

If you have any information or concern about any blasting system having issues, such as pre-detonations, misfires, or other problems, please contact Thomas Lobb at telephone number (304) 547-2302 or by email at lobb.thomas@dol.gov. You may also contact Richard O'Hanlon by telephone at (304) 547-2316 or by email at ohanlon.richard@dol.gov.
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Oxygen Safety

A portable Refuge Alternative, Shelter, or Chamber will provide miners protection in the event of a mine emergency. The unit can sustain miners for 96 hours as they await rescue. In order to provide the 96 hours of breathable air for miners, the refuge alternatives are equipped with high-pressure compressed oxygen cylinders. The oxygen delivery system remains in a "ready state" until it is "deployed" by miners during a mine emergency.
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2 Miners were Killed in Five Days!
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A near-fatal accident occurred when a mechanic working on a rail car was pinned between two air-operated discharge doors that suddenly opened.
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Bulletin #1 - "It Hurts to be in the "Red Zone"
Bulletin #2 - "Red Zones are No Zones"

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During 2010, rib falls killed three coal miners, and injured approximately 80 more. Analysis indicates that the rib fall hazard is greatest where the ribs are seven feet high or greater, the depth of cover is 700 feet or greater, or where the ribs contain rock partings or brows.
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Since 1995, there have been 13 fatalities associated with man lifts and bucket trucks. Of these 13 fatalities, 5 occurred at coal mines. The fatalities resulted from fall of persons, roll over, electrocution and crushing incidents. Although man lifts and bucket trucks are different types of equipment, many times they are used for the same purpose and have similar hazards.
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Every year a fatality or serious injury can be attributed to one or all of the above failures. The most recent involved unplugging the wrong circuit for a pump, resulting in serious flash burns. Victims convince themselves that they have a good excuse right up to the time of the accident. Have you heard these?
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Remote control continuous mining machine operators continue to lose their lives while tramming these machines. There have been 31 fatalities involving remote control continuous mining machines since 1984, two of which have occurred in 2008.
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Ten miners have been fatally injured in accidents involving mobile equipment this year (2005) in the metal/nonmetal sector of the mining industry.
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On August 27, 2012, the ground gave way beneath a bulldozer clearing an access road for an existing powerline.
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Four victims did not have or use fall protection.Two victims wore fall protection but did not attach the lanyard.Five victims were contractors.
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MSHA is seeking to raise their Stakeholder's awareness of recent accident trends and any relevant potential hazards during upcoming inspections. Information regarding these trends is being provided in the form of Safety Awareness Bulletins, as well as one-on-one contacts with miners and mine operators.
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From April to August 2007, 6 miners were fatally injured when they fell from elevated structures and equipment.
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As of December 28, 2006, there have been 25 fatalities in the Metal/Nonmetal mining industry.See Alert

Recent failures of storage bins, silos and other structures highlight the need to increase awareness of hazards associated with these structures.
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Structural Inspection of Processing Plants Presentation

Two fatalities have occurred since January 1, 2007.
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There have been an alarming number of fatalities in both Metal and Nonmetal and Coal mines in which mine owners or supervisors were killed while performing these tasks.
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Electrical troubleshooters need to be aware of a change in the line starters being used in a number of mining machines. The line starters are changing from mechanical contacts to vacuum contacts. With this change, the physical construction has been modified. The insulation barriers between the top lugs on the vacuum contactor have been reduced. The reduction of the insulation barrier can, under some circumstances, allow a troubleshooter to accidentally contact two phases while making a phase-to-phase voltage measurement, causing a short-circuit condition.
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24 UG MNM Mine Fires Have Occurred From 1/1/2007 to 3/19/2010
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A recent electrical accident occurred when the control push rod for a vacuum bottle broke and allowed the contacts inside the bottle to close.
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On May 7, 2005, a contractor employee received injuries when an acetylene cylinder exploded at a cement operation. The victim and a co-worker had just parked their utility body service truck and used a 12 volt, wireless remote, key fob to unlock the tool compartments.
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As of July 2011, there have been 17 water-related fatalities since 2004 at metal/nonmetal sites.
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