Drill Operator

January 29, 2025 at 7:19 AM

Twilight Mtr Surface Mine · Surface · Coal

Operator: Lexington Coal Company, LLC (Lexington Coal Holdings, Inc)

Boone County, WV

Classification FALL OF FACE/RIB/PILLAR/SIDE/HIGHWALL

Type Struck by falling object

Investigator narrative

The employee was drilling a test hole in the surface pit floor to see if the rider coal seam was under the seam they were taking. Due to the freezing and thawing of the highwall a large chunk of rock approximately 4'x2'x3' came down striking the enclosed cab of the mobile drill, ripping the cab off and striking the employee.

Record details

Activity at time of incident: Surface Equipment, Nec
Subunit / location: STRIP, QUARY, OPEN PIT
Underground location: NO VALUE FOUND
Mining method: NO VALUE FOUND
Accident type: Struck by falling object
Source of injury: CAVING ROCK,COAL,ORE,WSTE
Nature of injury: MULTIPLE INJURIES
Body part affected: TRUNK, MULTIPLE PARTS
Total mining experience: 20 years
Experience at this mine: 1 year
Experience in this job: 20 years
Degree of injury: FATALITY

Verify on MSHA

Every record on this page mirrors what MSHA publishes under its Open Government Data program, refreshed weekly. MSHA does not publish per-accident URLs — the Accidents data is distributed as a single bulk file — so this is how to retrieve the source for the specific record below:

Final investigation report: Read MSHA's final report
Accident record: Download MSHA Accidents.zip — then search for Document number 220250300020 (the unique key per MSHA Form 7000-1)
Mine record: MSHA Mine Data Retrieval System — search by Mine ID 4608645
All MSHA datasets: Open Government Data program directory — Accident, Mines, Inspections, Violations, etc.

Source: US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) · Document 220250300020 · Mine ID 4608645 Trainer view →