Mining Publication: Why Do Haul Truck Fatal Accidents Keep Occurring?
Original creation date: April 2021
Authors: J Bellanca, M Ryan, T Orr, RJ Burgess-Limerick
Powered haulage continues to be a large safety concern for the mining industry, accounting for approximately 50% of the mining fatal accidents every year. Among these fatal accidents, haul-truck-related accidents are the most common, with 6 of 28 and 6 of 27 fatal accidents occurring in 2017 and 2018, respectively. To better understand why these accidents continue to occur and what can be done to prevent them, researchers reviewed the 91 haul-truck-related fatal accidents that occurred in the USA from 2005 to 2018 and performed bow-tie analyses using the final reports published by the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The analyses explore the context of the accidents with a focus on the initiating event, event outcome, hazards present, and possible preventative and mitigative controls. Overall, the vast majority of the accidents resulted in a haul truck colliding with the environment, and the majority of these events were initiated by loss of situational awareness or loss of control. The majority of the hazards were related to design and organizational controls. The results of this study suggest a need to investigate operator decision-making and organizational controls and to focus on improving design and operation controls such as mine design and operational procedures.
- Developing Random Virtual Human Motions and Risky Work Behaviors for Studying Anthropotechnical Systems
- The Effects of Disaster on Workers: A Study of Burnout in Investigators of Serious Accidents and Fatalities in the U.S. Mining Industry
- Haulage Truck Dump Site Safety: An Examination of Reported Injuries
- Independent Contractor Trends in the United States Mining Industry
- Infographic: Haul Trucks Can Kill!
- Operating Speed Assessments of Underground Mining Equipment
- Test Results of Collision Warning Systems for Surface Mining Dump Trucks
- Tying Acceleration and GPS Location Information Together To Create a Mine Management Tool
- Underground Coal Mining Disasters and Fatalities: United States, 1900-2006
- Verification and Validation of Roof Bolter Simulation Models for Studying Events Between a Machine and its Operator