Rock Products is the aggregates industry's leading source for market analysis and technology solutions, delivering critical content focusing on aggregates-processing equipment; operational efficiencies; management best practices; comprehensive market
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10 • ROCK products • August 2016 www.rockproducts.com I N D U S T RY N E W S IN THE KNOW AIM FOR UPTIME The new RigScan audit program uses cutting edge tools to increase your safety and equipment availability. We'll identify rig problems before they sideline production. 800-732-6762 www.atlascopco.us FAST FACT The embankment failed and the tailings and slurry engulfed both miners. Two Killed at Sand and Gravel Operation On June 3, a 24-year-old haul truck oper- ator, with nine months of experience, and a 56-year-old hydraulic excavator oper- ator, with six years of experience, were killed at Green Brothers Gravel Co. Inc.'s Harmony Mine & Mill in Mississippi. The two miners were working in a pit next to an abandoned roadway embank- ment, which partially bound an old pit. Waste clay and sand had been placed in the old pit for reclamation purposes. The embankment failed and the tailings and slurry engulfed both miners. These are the seventh and eighth fatal- ities reported in calendar year 2016 in metal and nonmetal mining. As of this date in 2015, there were eight fatalities reported in metal and nonmetal mining. They are the first and second fatalities classified as Inundation in 2016. There were no Inundation accident classifica- tion fatalities in the same period in 2015. Best Practices: • Make sure that embankments con- taining ponds of water, tailings, processing waste, or other fluids are designed and constructed to be stable, and that mining operations are kept a safe distance away. • Provide hazard training to all per- sonnel working on or near an impoundment to recognize hazards associated with it, such as surface cracks or piping, and to recognize adverse conditions and environmen- tal factors that can decrease stability before beginning work. • Embankments adjoining workplaces and travelways should be examined weekly or more often if changing ground conditions warrant. • Adverse weather, such as heavy rain, may introduce or increase hazardous conditions associated with impound- ments, highwalls and embankments. Workplace examinations should be increased when these are present to recognize changing conditions. • Before beginning work, conduct a workplace exam from as many per- spectives as possible (bottom, sides, and top/crest) of ground conditions that could create a hazard to persons and repair, support or remove if found immediately. Correct hazardous condi- tions by working from a safe location.