By: Mike Tony
Source: The Charleston Gazette-Mail, W.Va. (TNS)
Reports on two fatal incidents in West Virginia mines underscored key safety failures leading up to them during a state mine board meeting Tuesday.
The Coal Mine Health and Safety Board heard reports at its monthly meeting from state mine inspection office representatives on the deaths of Virgil Paynter, 59, of Wyoming County, and Ashley Cogar, 33, of Webster County, in May and July, respectively.
Since 2023, the inspection by the Mine Safey and Health Administration have identified 3,880 violations, reports EHS Today, a sibling publication of Construction Equipment.
The incidents occurred at mines with long histories of federal safety and health violations.
Mine safety training requirements not met
Paynter, a contractor for Ashland, Virginia-based Cornerstone Labor Services Inc. was fatally injured when the excavator he was operating traveled over a highwall and down 317 feet on May 16 at the Coal Mountain No. 1 mine operated by Beckley-based CM Energy Operations LP in Wyoming County.
Pictured is a photo in a West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training report on a Wyoming County mine fatality presented to the state Coal Mine Health and Safety Board Sept. 17, 2024. The photo shows the point of what the state mine office said was an initial fall of 317 feet in the death of Virgil Paynter, 59, of Wyoming County.
That’s according to a report authored by state Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training inspector-at-large Michael Pack which found Paynter didn’t receive adequate training on plans, procedures and precautions at the mine.
Read also: A look at safe excavator operation and how to avoid common problems
Paynter was found nearly 28 feet from the excavator after the incident, which no coworkers said they witnessed, per the report.
James Tackett, a foreman, said he found Paynter on the cab side of the machine after Tackett heard metal banging and crashing at 2:15 a.m., according to the report. That occurred roughly 20 minutes after dozer operator James Harris told Paynter that he “could handle it from here,” meaning Paynter could use the excavator to move a 17x14x8-foot rock while Harris left Paynter and resumed his work, per the report.
Tackett couldn’t revive Paynter. Paramedic and coal loader operator Shane Christian found no pulse after arriving at 2:34 a.m. A do-not-resuscitate order was given at 4:21 a.m., the report states.
Training requirements weren’t met on a federal ground control plan or state comprehensive training program addressing requirements for operators and contractors regarding training, equipment maintenance and accident prevention, the report stated.
Rain and heavy fog conditions were recorded nearly two hours before the incident, according to the report.
Paynter was a certified surface apprentice coal miner who had received task training on the Caterpillar 374F excavator on April 10, the report stated. Paynter’s certification was issued in 2014, and he had eight weeks of experience on the permitted property, the report said.
The Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training issued Cornerstone Labor Services and CM Energy Operations violation notices for:
- Not ensuring an apprentice surface miner received all required training on the federal ground control plan or state Comprehensive Mine Safety Program
- The seat belt on the excavator not being used as required
- The excavator operator not maintaining a safe distance from the vertical highwall
The report states that CM Energy Operations and Cornerstone Labor Services submitted “plans of prevention and reoccurrence” and updated the Comprehensive Mine Safety Programs.
The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration had issued CM Energy Operations 201 mine safety and health violations at the Coal Mountain No. 1 Surface Mine since the start of 2021 as of May 2024, according to MSHA data.
Of those violations, 25 were categorized as “Significant and Substantial,” MSHA data said. The agency uses that designation for hazards that there is a reasonable likelihood could result in serious injury.
Mine operator's long safety violation history
A long history of mine safety violations at a Beckley-based company’s Wyoming County coal mine operations preceded the death of a coal miner at a mine there after a fatal incident Thursday.
Cogar died on July 23 from serious injuries sustained on July 12, when she was caught between a loader bucket and the ground while working at the Pocahontas Coal Co. LLC-operated Wyco Surface Mine in Raleigh County. The mine is controlled by Metinvest B.V., a Netherlands-based holding company in a corporate umbrella with mining and metallurgical assets in Ukraine, Europe and the United States.
Cogar walked under the bucket of the loader at 11 p.m., when the bucket struck her head, knocking her to the ground before continuing to lower, according to the report. The bucket pinned Cogar’s lower body between the bucket and ground, according to the report.
Pictured in this photo from a West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training report on a mine fatality to the Coal Mine Health and Safety Board Sept. 17, 2024 is what the state mine office says was a loader Ashley Cogar, 33, walked underneath when the loader bucket struck her head. Cogar died July 23, 2024, 11 days after the incident.
The report states Cogar had turned from foreman-in-training James Webb to return to her haul truck when she walked under the bucket as it was being lowered from roughly three-quarters of its maximum lift height to the ground.
The loader showed a code on its Vital Information Management System indicating the hydraulic fluid level was low around 10:30 p.m. — five and a half hours after Cogar began her shift as a haul truck driver, according to the report.
Mechanics had arrived and began to troubleshoot for a leak by having the loader operator start the machine and raise and lower the boom.
Loader operator Robert McClung applied oxygen, a neck brace and a blanket while Webb laid on the ground beside Cogar to comfort her and keep her conscious, the report says. Emergency medical technician and lube truck driver Jacob Lucas applied pressure and dressings to control bleeding.
A Jan-Care ambulance arrived and took over care of Cogar at 12:02 a.m., exactly one hour before she was lifted off by HealthNet Aeromedical Services to Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital in Charleston, according to the report. Cogar succumbed to her injuries 11 days later.
Investigators were told the only light was coming off the loader and maintenance trucks, the report states. A lighting structure was out of service at the time.
Cogar was a certified surface miner with two years and one month of experience, according to the report. She was not wearing a cap light or high-visibility clothing at the time of the accident, the report states.
Foreman Justin Shorter received no answer from mine superintendent Bobby Sams after trying to call him after arriving in the production pit and assessing the situation some 12 minutes after Cogar was hit, the report said. Shorter then called safety technician Rusty Keen and informed him of the situation.
A non-assessed control order was issued in accordance with state code and five violation notices were issued during the investigation, according to the report, which notes modifications were made to the company’s federal ground control plan and state comprehensive safety program.
The following will be included in the Wyco Surface Mine’s Comprehensive Mine Safety Program, according to the report:
- Ensure light structures are functioning and in use in work areas
- Reflective material that can be seen from all directions must be worn while out of equipment
- Provide employees with strobe lights to be worn during times of low visibility (like dark and fog)
- When equipment repairs or maintenance are being performed in areas other than designated maintenance areas, develop safety zones around equipment
MSHA records show the agency issued Pocahontas Coal 37 violations from August 2022 to July 2024 for safety and health infractions at the Wyco mine. Seven of those violations, all from February 2024, were categorized as “Significant and Substantial.”
A long history of federal safety and health violations preceded an incident at a mine near the border of Raleigh and Wyoming counties that resulted in a miner’s death.
The two fatality reports the Coal Mine Health and Safety Board heard Tuesday covered the first two mine fatalities in West Virginia of 2024. There have been two more since then. There were three mine fatalities in West Virginia in 2023, after four in 2022.
In related business, the Coal Mine Health and Safety Board held an executive session in part to consider legal advice regarding deadlines for fatality reports and procedures for mine inspector examinations.
(c)2024 The Charleston Gazette (Charleston, W.Va.)
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