 We were near the bottom of the shaft, about 15 feet from the bottom, and we were pouring concrete into a concrete wall. And at one point I recall pushing against the concrete bucket. And as I did so, the lumber that I was standing on slid away from the hole and I fell through the hole. It's such a helpless feeling, thinking that you're safe and then all of a sudden you're completely out of control. Since 1997, 32 miners have lost their lives in falls from elevated work areas. The third leading cause of fatalities at metal non-metal mines for the past three years. Sadly, these tragedies could have been avoided. All of us who work in the mining industry need to be able to recognize and avoid the hazards that go with working at elevated locations. We also need to know how to properly use fall protection equipment to help prevent accidents. You place yourself at risk if you say it could never happen to me. The day of the accident we were blowing the muck and broken up concrete down the hole. Louis Rogers was tied off, he had his body harness on and was tied off to a salad block. And he had a one inch blowpipe and he was blowing this debris into the hole or away from it, off the existing pad that was there. He was tied on one side of the rib, he walked around to the other side of the hole and moved too quickly because of a low spot in the ground and the salad block stopped him right away. Of course, he started going right towards the hole. Ken, he was tied off but he just released his hook and Kenny reached for him and they both went into the hole. The moment that he unhooked himself and then Louis at that moment hit the end of that salad block and then him reaching for him just a split second natural reflect or something, him reaching for him like that, which of course cost him his life. We were both very, very close as father and son and also co-workers with the same company. Safety was always number one on his mind, contact daily or every second day, no matter where we were. He would always discuss jobs with me, always discuss how to do it safely. His concern was for his employees. In Kenny's case, Kenny had an accident because he was trying to save one of his employees. The employee was tied off and was not in an unsafe situation but Kenny didn't have the time to think about that. Personally, it's something you'll probably have to, you have to live with it but you'll never get over it. It's not something that you can replace by any means. It will take you a little more than half a second to realize that you are accidentally falling. By this time you've already fallen over seven feet and reached a speed of 15 miles per hour. After another 1.3 seconds you have fallen 65 feet and your speeds 44 miles per hour. A rate that usually results in death or serious injury upon impact. As a result of the accident, we did review all our policies and procedures with respect to working around open holes and elevated positions. We have updated those policies and procedures looking for zero. MSHA regulations require the use of fall protection. A mining company should have a fall protection program designed to identify, manage and control fall hazards. The fall protection program should be prepared by a qualified person and be site specific. Develop policies and procedures for the protection of employees and supervision. Have a specific plan written and explained to each member of the crew. You can't afford to have a member of your crew that is not aware of what the others are going to be doing. Where there's work to be done and there's a risk of falling, you need to carefully evaluate the potential hazards. Appropriate fall protection measures can be taken when the hazards are identified. Each task that you're going to perform should be analyzed prior to when you start and the proper protective gear assigned to it with the proper training. It's important to inspect your personal safety equipment and your equipment that you're going to use in the daily activity. Identify the position that you're in, the height, and use the appropriate equipment to actually keep you from hurting yourself if there is a fall. Common types of fall protection systems at mines include fixed barriers such as guardrails and handrails, surface opening protection such as removable covers, surface protection like non-slip flooring, travel restraint systems and fall arrest systems. In construction I think you'll see a lot of people with fall restraint. But in everyday mining, there is maybe pressures around open holes, conveyors in the maintenance shops where we're up in large man lifts or if we have it down in one of our process facilities in man lifts that's connected to a piece of equipment or machinery. Large structures if we're doing some welding or some repair work. Use railings, barriers or covers to prevent accidents at surface openings in floors and other walking surfaces. Where it is impractical to install such protective devices, adequate warning signs must be used. A fundamental part of any fall protection plan is to ensure that work surfaces are free from tripping and slipping hazards. This can be accomplished by good housekeeping practices. Keeping the work area free of equipment and materials that are not required for the task at hand and immediately cleaning up material spills. Miners need to wear appropriate footwear as well. Personal fall protection systems must be worn with lifeline secured to proper anchorage if works to be done near unprotected openings. There are two primary types of personal fall protection systems, travel restraint and fall arrest. A travel restraint system is designed to limit a miner's movement so they can't reach a location where there is a risk of falling. The restraint system is made up of a safety belt or harness, lanyard and anchor. Under no circumstances is a travel restraint system rigged so that a miner is in a position to fall. A fall arrest system is designed to reduce the chance of injury if a fall occurs. A complete fall arrest system consists of a full body harness, shock absorber, lanyard, lifeline and anchorage point. This system may also include a fall arrestor device. Personal fall protections only as good as its anchorage. Nothing in the system will work if the anchor point fails. That's one of the things that I think all mines and companies and employees have to work with is the proper tie off. People can wear them properly and can equip them properly. But where exactly do you top, especially in those areas where you don't readily have a solid tie off and you have to run static lines or other structures. Anchor points for tying off must be structurally sound and able to support an impact load of 5,000 pounds. The anchor point is located above the miner to limit a fall to the shortest possible distance. It is highly recommended that only a full body harness with a retractable or shock absorbing lanyard be used. The shock absorber is designed to cushion a fall. Be sure to compensate for the additional distance the shock absorber will need. Before use, all personal fall protection equipment should be inspected to make sure it meets specifications. Employees need to be trained in the proper inspection and use of personal fall protection equipment. Accidents, near misses. Whether they be fatal or not to try and bring back to people, yes this can happen. Look at this man, 30 years doing this job. The simple task that he did every day, he lost his life over. When we have a fatality, and generally a fatality, most of us are in a fairly small community of miners. And we know the people personally or intimately that are involved in the accident. And so there's a somber move, there's a resolve to try to do things to avoid having a repetition of that type of accident. We should all be aiming for zero. It's attainable. And to attain this zero, it requires policies, procedures, compliance, training and education. I recognize the benefit of zero tolerance and I strongly endorse it. I believe that it's achievable. I believe that our efforts should be from a management standpoint, should be directed toward achieving that. It's important to conduct safety meetings that are on current subjects and not something that's two or three months down the road. It's important for you as a supervisor to personally exhibit safe work habits.