Pend Oreille Mine — Accidents

Total: 259 accidents | Fatalities: 1

Date Classification Injury Days Lost Narrative
07/13/2007 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The power went out due to a lighting strike that struck a surface electrical substation. The site wide power outage resulted in the 1085 hoist being down for greater than 30-minutes. The surface ele...
07/11/2007 SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None The employee was hanging barricades. He lost his balance and caught himself with his hands. In doing so, he cut his thumb on a sharp rock.
06/30/2007 SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None A mine employee sustained a laceration to the right forearm while he was loading a blast hole. He fell against the face while pushing a loading hose into the hole. He received 5 sutures and returned...
06/15/2007 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None A momentary power outage occurred while hoisting. This resulted in a drive fault in the hoist program. It would not immediately reset. The DHS computer had a communications error and had to be powe...
05/28/2007 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None An electrical connector on the -50 hoist hydraulic unit shorted, resulting in a blown fuse in the control power circuit. This resulted in the hoist not operational for greater than 30-minutes. The f...
04/06/2007 HANDLING OF MATERIALS DAYS RESTRICTED ACTIVITY ONLY 6d restricted Employee was restacking drill rods in the rod basket when several drillrods rolled onto his right hand, fracturing his right pinky finger and bruising his right hand.
02/27/2007 ELECTRICAL NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None Due to a small fire on a distribution box, an employee received smoke inhalation while extinguishing the small fire. The employee was taken to the local hospital. The employee reported back to work...
02/18/2007 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The 1085 hoist was inoperable for approximately 2.5 hours when one of the skip tires went flat. The tire was repaired and the hoist returned to operation. Note: The second skip was operational duri...
02/13/2007 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The 1700 Sump electrical station went down due to moisture on the contacts that was a result of a previous power outage that occurred off site. To re-energize the 1700 sump electrical station, the ho...
01/25/2007 FALL OF ROOF OR BACK FATALITY Fatal Still under investigation. Fall of ground occurred during bolting cycle in which two employees were involved. One was struck by slab/ground fall, and resulted in fatality.
01/18/2007 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The 1085 hoist was inoperable for approximately 3-hours due to a power failure in the lower portion of the mine. The power outage was due to blast concussion that knocked out fuses from their holder...
01/04/2007 MACHINERY DYS AWY FRM WRK & RESTRCTD ACT 1d lost, 8d restricted Working over head and shoulder gave out.
12/19/2006 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None 1085 hoist main AC breaker would not reset due to PLC output error. System was rebooted and all checks were completed. There was no damage to the hoist.
12/14/2006 SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None EE stepped down off of the drill platform onto a rubber mat covering muddy ground. As he came down he twisted his ankle. Broke left ankle.
12/13/2006 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The 1085 hoist became inoperable due to a faulty relief valve. Previously a new relief valve was installed and it did not seal itself correctly. Hydraulic oil leaked around the valve and caused the...
12/03/2006 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The 1085 hoist experienced electrical and computer problems. The PLC communications error made the hoist inoperable. There was no damage to the hoist.
11/28/2006 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The 1085 level hoist became temporarily inoperable due to a brake sensor out of adjustment. Normal wear (vibration) on the brake sensor caused it to go out of adjustment. The sensor was readjusted a...
11/13/2006 MACHINERY DAYS AWAY FROM WORK ONLY 145d lost During the process of bolting down a Hagby core drill rig, an employee experienced back pain while maneuvering a jackleg. The employee was initially accessed by an on-site EMT. The employee recieive...
11/09/2006 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None Maintenance activities were proformed on the hoist during earlier shift. The emergency stop buttons were not reset following completion of the maintenance work. Therefore, the hoistman could not sta...
11/06/2006 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The #2 skip became stuck above the 1050 level after failing to dump. The #2 skip door did not close all the way and got hung up on the 1085 shaft collar. The muck was removed fromt the skip and the...
11/03/2006 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The 1085 level hoist left brake #2 cartridge valve had become stuck. The cause was a low break pressure alarm that did not immedialely reset. The alarm was eventually reset and the valve has since b...
11/02/2006 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The 1085 level hoist was inoperable for approx. 4 hours due to corrosion on the auxilary switch on the scroll latch, which caused it to fail. Because of the faulty switch, the digital hoist supervisor...
10/07/2006 HANDLING OF MATERIALS NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None A maintenance employee suffered a laceration to one finger and an avulsion to a second finger while attempting to unplug a fine ore feeder with an air lance and struck his hand on a sharp piece of ste...
08/25/2006 FALL OF ROOF OR BACK ACCIDENT ONLY None A fall of ground (approx. 10'wide x 10' long x 3' thick) occured at the intersection of the A-4 sump and 900 roadway. Our Geology dept. has concluded the area contained a mixture of striped coarse and...
08/22/2006 HANDLING OF MATERIALS DAYS RESTRICTED ACTIVITY ONLY 7d restricted While adjusting the wireline, employee pinched his finger between the wireline and the pully, resulting in a cut and bruised finger.
08/16/2006 HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None The injury occured when EE was removing a mucker bucket tooth. The tooth had been torch cut loose previously and the EE was using an air chisel & a hammer to remove it. When the EE struck the tooth w...
08/09/2006 HANDLING OF MATERIALS NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None Helper was unloading core tube, shaking tube to release the core when he felt a ""pop"" in his shoulder, causing pain and numbness in his arm and shoulder.
08/05/2006 HANDLING OF MATERIALS DAYS RESTRICTED ACTIVITY ONLY 4d restricted Employee laid a full core tube on a make-shift tube holder. The tube began to fall. The employee tried to catch it. As he grabbed it he felt a pain in his right bicep tendon. Employee was not usin...
05/24/2006 HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None The EE was injured when he was drilling with a Jumbo. During drilling, he noticed loose centralizer bolts and attempted to tighten them with his rap wrench. As he was pulling on the wrench, it slipped...
05/03/2006 MACHINERY NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None While rock bolting overhead, having just finished drilling a hole, employee turned off drill & removed safety glasses to clean them. He looked up & a drop of mud fell into his right eye. Material woul...
04/17/2006 OTHER DAYS RESTRICTED ACTIVITY ONLY 2d restricted The mine supervisor's injury occurred when he was walking from his light vehicle to the pump station. There is no specific incident or accident that can be attributed to the injury. The supervisor sta...
04/11/2006 HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None EE was repairing a mechanized rock drill. The EE was striking the drill steel with a 4lb hammer when a small metal shard broke off the end off the3 drill steel and struck the EE on his chest. The pie...
03/21/2006 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The 1085 hoist was inoperable for approximately one hour as the result of a brake adjustment sensor failure on #1 side drum brakes. The sensor failed during normal muck hoisting operations causing the...
03/14/2006 HANDLING OF MATERIALS DAYS RESTRICTED ACTIVITY ONLY 1d restricted On 03-14-06 the employee was removing a 20' length of 2"" schedule 10 pipe from the 270 level pipe rack and pinched his finger between the pipe and the pipe rack rail. On 03-20-06 the employee visited...
03/02/2006 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None THE 1085 HOIST WAS INOPERABLE FOR APPROX. 2 HOURS DUE TO BRAKE ADJUSTMENT PROBLEMS ON #2 SIDE. THIS SITUATION OCCURRED IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING A ROUTINE HOIST ROPE REPLACEMENT. A MAINTENANCE DEPT. INS...
02/24/2006 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The hoist was inoperable for appr. 2 hrs due to mechanical problems. During muck hoisting operations, the hoistman experienced problems with the control joystick. A maintenance inspection revealed a f...
02/21/2006 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The hoist inoperable for approximatley 2 hours as a result of brake adjustment problems on #1 side. This occured during the normal muck hoisting cycle a maintenance department inspection determined br...
02/20/2006 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None As the Hoistman was conducting the daily Pre- Operational saftey checks, The #1 left brake failed to properley release. A maintenance inspection identified a faulty brake hydraulic tank level sensor t...
01/11/2006 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED IN #1 SIDE SHAFT COMPARTMENT APPROX. 428'BELOW THE 900 LEVEL. AS THE SKIP WAS LOWERING THE 1ST CREW FROM 1085 TO 50 LEVEL, THE SKIP MAN DOOR OPENED PARTIALLY & STRUCK A SHAFT SET...
01/03/2006 HANDLING OF MATERIALS DYS AWY FRM WRK & RESTRCTD ACT 3d lost, 7d restricted THE EE'S INJURY OCCURRED WHEN HE WAS HELPING A 2ND EE LIFT & CARRY A PORTABLE WELDON WATER PUMP TO THE FACE IN A PRODUCTION HEADING. THE EE'S MUSCLE STRAIN OCCURRED AS THEY WERE CARRYING THE PUMP.
12/14/2005 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None When the hoist operator was clutching in, the hoist's safety limiting sensor recognized a clutch collar engaging problem and would not release the drum brake. Thirty minutes expired before maintenance...
10/27/2005 POWERED HAULAGE DAYS AWAY FROM WORK ONLY 161d lost The injury occurred when the employee was riding underground seated at the rear of the mancarrier. As the mancarrier was travelling it hit a bump on the road causing the employee to bounce up off the...
10/18/2005 HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None THE INJURY OCCURRED WHEN THE EMPLOYEE WAS ATTEMPTING TO SEPARATE TWO LENGTHS OF 1"" WATER HOSE. AS THE EMPLOYEE WAS HOLDING THE JOINER NIPPLE WITH ONE HAND AND STRIKING THE COUPLER WITH HIS RAP WRENCH...
10/17/2005 HANDLING OF MATERIALS NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None The injury occurred when the employee was removing banding straps from a bundle of swellex rock bolts. After cutting a strap and pulling it free. The loose end rolled back and struck the employee on h...
09/27/2005 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None During #1 skips dumping cycle a rock lodged in one gate latch preventing it from closing properly. When the skip was loaded one side of the gate opened partially jamming against the shaft timber. The...
09/02/2005 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The mines hoisting system became inoperable for a period of time in excess of 30 minutes when a mine site electrical power outage occurred. The failure occurred when an automatic reclosure switch fail...
08/27/2005 MACHINERY DAYS RESTRICTED ACTIVITY ONLY 33d restricted THE EMPLOYEE'S INJURY OCCURRED WHEN HE WAS INSTALLING ROCK BOLTS WITH A JACKLEG. AS HE WAS DRILLING, THE STEEL BROKE PUSHING THE JACKLEG FORWARD. HE WAS HOLDING ON, RESULTING IN PULLING HIM SHARPLY FO...
07/15/2005 SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None While working in a raise, employees had scaled & installed bolts with wire. During process of drilling round, the ground popped, loosening a 9' x 4' wide x 1"" thick into the wire. In doing so, the wi...
06/20/2005 SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON DAYS RESTRICTED ACTIVITY ONLY 3d restricted The injury occurred when the employee was stepping down from the operator's compartment of a haul truck onto the footwall. When the employee's foot contacted the footwall she stepped onto a small rock...
05/24/2005 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The trip switch indicator sensor shut down the hoist and it would not reset, upon investigating it was found there was a grease build up on the slack rope sensor. after cleaning off the grease, we wer...