 Mining operations in the United States involve extensive use of highway and off-road trucks. Safe truck haulage should be the foremost concern of everyone in the industry, especially the individual truck drivers, since truck accidents are on the rise. In fact, since 1995, there have been approximately 45 surface haulage fatalities involving trucks. And the most accidents involve trucks backing over berms. A truck driver was fatally injured while attempting to position his truck to dump at a cold surface operation. The right rear wheels over-traveled the edge of the dump, causing the truck to travel backwards, down the dump slope, and landed upside down in approximately six feet of water. The fatality occurred as a direct result of the failure of the mine operator to maintain an adequate dump berm at the pit-spoiled dump location. Contributing to the severity was the failure of the mine operator to ensure that seat belts, where required, were worn. In this accident, a truck driver was dumping when his truck backed through the berm and traveled down a 444-foot embankment. Upon impact, the employee was thrown through the rear cab window. He died from his injuries. The primary cause of the accident was failure to maintain control of the truck while backing to the dump berm. A second factor was the berm did not impede the truck from over-traveling or overturning at the dump location. The driver was not wearing his seat belt. In regard to truck safety, one company took it upon themselves to study the berms on their mining property and their relation to the different-sized trucks. They want to share their findings with you. Watch. What we've done, as you can see behind me, there's six piles that we've constructed to simulate the berms that we use on the dumps where the haul trucks dumped the overburden. The farthest three berms from me are of course material with a lot of large rocks. The three closest to me are the berms that are made out of a softer material. When I backed into the eight-foot berm, it was the first, which was the first one. It was more solid. It felt like it was solid. Even though I felt like I did climb up onto it a little bit. It had a lot less resistance to it than the bigger berm. You could feel yourself climbing up onto the berm more compared to the others. The truck that you just saw was a 190-ton haul truck that backed into each one of these berms the first time they backed straight in and the second time at an angle. As you could see with the first three berms, with the coarser material, the truck barely made an impact into that berm. The other three berms that were made of the softer materials, as you watch the truck back in, the wheels sank deeply into the material. These type berms that are made of the softer material are not of a good construction to stop a haul truck that's traveling at three to four miles an hour as they back into the berm. The coarse ones had a lot harder impact on you. You could feel that it was going to stop you. As to where the other berms with the less coarse material, you could feel it getting a little bit squishy as you backed into it and you could tell that the tires were raising up onto it. You had a lot of resistance but you could tell that it wasn't a very solid berm. All berms around the mine are supposed to be half the height of the tire. It should be a good solid berm, not a false berm that's been fluffed up with the dozer. The one that is high, even with your back tire, center, and that it's wide. What I like to see is the eight foot berm made out of coarse material. That's just the right height to where it's over half the height of your tire and it makes you feel safer. A berm needs to be at least at the middle of the tallest tire of any piece of equipment that you're running on the mine site. The berm should also be constructed of a material that has some coarse rock and some good bonding material in order for the construction to be adequate. If the berm is made of a softer material such as loose sand, when the truck backs into the berm, as you can see, the wheels sink deeply into it. If there's enough speed behind the truck, the truck will actually power through the berm and go over the edge. We've had the left hand traffic pattern which helps you to come in on the dump. The berm is always on your left side, giving you a good view of the dump berm itself. You never want to get close to the berm and you can actually see over the berm, but this way it gives you a good perspective. You can look down the whole berm and see if you notice any cracks or any sloughing. You make your turn, your position, and you ease into the berm. You never use the berm as a stopping device. The berm is just to guide you to show you where to stop. We teach our drivers to inspect the berm when they come up to it, and we tell them to stay a certain distance away from it. They need to inspect not only the berm itself, but the dump floor in front of that berm to make it look for cracks. But they need to look as they make their turn to see if it's an adequate height before they would back up to it. I'll swing wide and then come down the side of the dump a little bit so I can look at the edge, make sure there's no cracks or anything that's going to harm me when I do back up. I always like to observe the berm before I back up to it. Make sure if there's big cracks or anything that might send your truck over, observe it closely before you back into it slowly. Because if it's weak and you don't catch it, it could send you a plum over. Occasionally, if the berm is a little too wide, you won't get it over. It'll come on top, or sometimes if the berm is a little soft or a little low, you might short-dump, dump in front of it and let the dozer operator push it over. Each time that you come on to a dump, you should consider that that berm may be used to stop your vehicle in case of brake failure or another mechanical failure of some type. So always look at the quality of that berm, that it's at a center of a wheel height and that it's of a good material. This indicates that there may be some loose overburden material that's hanging off the backside of the berm, which is a truck impact that could cause the berm to slough and let the truck go over the edge. With a 190-ton truck, you will get compression cracks when you're softening the material, which is common. But at the same time, you should never drive over a crack. You see a crack, you let the dump hand or your foreman know exactly what's going on and that way they can get out and look, see if the dump is bulging or sloughing and either move you to another dump or continue to dump there and build it up to where it's safe. I'll call the dozer operator or motion to him that there is a crack in the flooring. If there's cracks in it, the first thing I'm going to do is notify the dozer operator. I'll let dispatch know so they can send a foreman up here to check them out. Well, I'll see what I can do. Okay, how fast do you want them to come? Very quickly. And then let the dozer operator know that I'm knocking them back completely up to the berm. Then I'm going to dump it short. Weather conditions. We've had some real bad weather here lately and some of the berms got a little bit soft. Well, the conditions we've had the last few weeks, all the rain and the snow we've had out here, that breaks down the dirt, makes it mush and I'll break away if you back in too hard. Rain affects berms to the point that it'll soften the material up. It actually helps it compact to a point. But once the rain, once there's too much water in the berm, it becomes unstable and the truck can power through it easier. The berms along the edge of the haul roads in the event of an accident are usually going to be impacted at a higher speed, so we tend to make those berms on the haul roads more than center height to the tallest wheel of the vehicles. In the cases that we've seen, if the driver's not aware that he's contacting the berm, if he's preoccupied and drifts over into it, the driver won't even know he's on that berm because of the size of the truck until the truck comes up at a fairly steep angle. Normally, if it's a softer material, it'll actually suck the truck into that berm as the wheel contacts the soft material that'll pull it into the berm itself and the driver sometimes loses control of the vehicle, causing it to ride up onto the berm and flip over. Most of our berms along our haul roads, especially along the pit edge, will probably be maybe 8 to 10 feet tall. A berm should be built so that a truck cannot go through it because it's ramped up. It should be steep enough so that the truck, when it hits it, will be deflected off of that berm back onto the haul road. We don't want trucks going through that berm. Even on slippery roads, we have the driver's drive as close to that berm as possible so that if the truck does slide, it will bounce off of that berm. Those berms along the haul roads are lifesavers. Yes, berms can be lifesavers, but in order to reduce fatalities at surface haulage operations, mobile equipment operators should check the equipment and correct all safety's effects before use. Check brakes regularly and keep them in good operating condition. Fasten down any loose objects in the cab and wear seat belts at all times. Never jump from a runaway truck. Stay in the cab. Be alert to road conditions and report unsafe or changing road conditions, just as you would report mechanical defects in your equipment. Never use the berm at dumping points as a bumper block. Back up slowly and stop before contacting the berm. Never dump above an area where material has been loaded out from the toe of a stockpile. A berm that is undercut can look fine from the top of the pile, but only a part of the berm will have a solid base. Remember, your truck has blind spots. Use your mirrors or cameras if available to look for pedestrians or other equipment in your area and sound your alarm to alert others that your truck is about to be placed in motion. Most importantly, stay alert. Keep your thoughts on performing your job safely and going home to your family at the end of your shift. The number of accidents in this sector continues to increase. In fact, since 1995, about 45 people have died in accidents related to surface transport. Most of them have been trucks passing through inadequate berms. A truck driver died while trying to put his truck to unload in a coal mine to the open air. The rear rims on the right side were on the edge of the curb. The truck fell over the slope and was turned over approximately six feet of water. This accident was a mistake of the mine operator and it would never have happened if this had maintained an adequate berm in the unloading area of the waste material. The mining operator did not have time to verify the good state of the safety belts. In this accident, he was going to unload when his truck unloaded the berm and fell over a dike of 444 feet. With the impact, the employee was projected through the rear window of the cabin to die later. The main cause of the accident was the loss of control of the truck when it turned over to the unloading berm. The second cause of the accident was the fact that the berm did not prevent the truck from following its path. The driver did not have his safety belt in place. Worrying about this type of accident, a company decided to study the berms in their mining property to see their relationship with the trucks of different sizes. The company wants to share its conclusions with you. Look at this. As you can see behind me, what we did was build six pillars to simulate the berms we make in the back of the truck. The three berms that are further away have thick material with many large stones while the three closest were made with a softer material. When I went back with my truck in the 8 feet berm, that is, in the first one, I felt it was more solid, much more solid. I even felt that I went up a little bit on top of it. Compared to the others, in that one you feel when you go up. The truck that I just saw was one of 190 tons. The drivers made a reverse in all the berms. The first time they did it perpendicularly and the second time in angle. As you can see in the first three berms made with thicker material, the truck just touched the same ones. The other three berms made with softer material allowed the wheels of the truck to sink deeper into the material. The type of berms made with softer material cannot stop a truck whose speed from three to four miles per hour during the unloading maneuvers. The coarse material supports more the impact of the truck. You can feel that it's going to stop as to where the other berms that don't have so much material are going to sink a little more into the wheels. And you can tell when you go up a little bit on the same ones. It also offers resistance to the impact but you feel that they're not as solid as the others. The berms of the mines should reach half of the rims. It should be a good and solid berm and not a false berm that goes off with a bulldozer. One that's high, that reaches half of the rear rim of height and that's wide. The best are the eight feet that reach half of the rims. That way you feel safer. A good berm should reach at least half of the rim of any vehicle that's being used on the mine site. That way it should be built from a material that has big stones and other good binding materials so that it's adequate construction. If the berm is made with a soft material, like loose sand, when the trucks go back in this case, the tires will sink in it and when a truck takes a lot of speed it will end up going through the berm and going over the edge. We've always been driving on the left side because it's better to be able to get into the curb. The berm is always on the left side giving you a good view of the berm on the left side. It's not recommended to get into the berm even though it can be better. It's better to get into the berm and see if there are any cracks or any wear. You make sure you position it and you get into the berm. You never have to use the berm to stop the truck. The berm only works to guide us to know where to stop. We teach our drivers to examine the berm when they approach it and we ask them to separate at a certain distance. There are no cracks. It's very important that you evaluate if the berm is well done before going over it. I'll swim all the way down to the side of the curb to see the edge and make sure there are no cracks and that everything is in order before going over it. I always like to go over the berm before going over it and make sure there are no big cracks or anything that could make it go over it and reverse it slowly because if it's weak and you don't notice it, the truck can go down. When the berm is a little wide it can't work, it can't be unloaded and when it's a little too soft or too low, you have to unload a little in front of the berm and leave the work to the driver. Each time you come over it you make sure that the berm is well done and that there is another mechanical problem. So always check the quality of the berms that their height reaches half of the rims and that they are made with good material. This indicates that there may be some material of low recovery hanging behind the berm and that when it's hit by the truck it can go down making the truck go over the edge. A 190 ton truck always leaves cracks due to the compression of the soft material which is normal so you don't have to drive over a crack if you see a crack, say it to a truck or a truck. They know what you have to do in those cases they know how to verify the ground and they can decide if you can keep unloading your material or if it's better to do it in another place that's really safe. When I see a crack on the ground I call the operator of the truck or I go and talk to him directly when I see cracks the first thing I do is call the separator and what they do is send it to a truck see what you can do well, how fast do you want it to go and then I tell the operator of the truck that I'm going to unload away from the berm, that's what I do and I'm going to dump it short if the weather affects the weather has been ugly here, really and some berms have become softer well, a few weeks ago it was raining and snowing the snow that has fallen has softened the whole ground it's quite unsafe and I think if you reverse it it can quickly fall rain affects the berms that they can soften the material it's true that it can compact it but when there's too much water in the berm it becomes unstable and the truck can easily cross it the berms that are along the way when an accident happens are normally impacted by a higher speed that's why we tend to do the bigger ones than the higher rims of the vehicles that circulate in the cases that we've seen if the driver doesn't realize that he's touching the berm if he's preoccupied and he goes up he won't even know what's going on because of the size of his truck unless the truck is too inclined normally, when it's made with softer material it sucks up the tires of the truck when it touches the soft material then it pulls it in and sometimes the driver loses control of the vehicle which causes him to go against the berm and fall off the wheel most of the berms that are on our tracks particularly those that are on the edge of the canter have about 8 or 10 speeds a berm should be built in such a way that a truck can't cross it it should be quite inclined when a truck touches it the berm makes the vehicle go back to the road immediately we don't want trucks going through the berms what we want are berms made even on slippery roads when a truck touches them the berms are saved that's right the berms can save your life but in order to reduce the number of death accidents in the transport operations the mobile team operators need to repair all their equipment before using them check the brakes regularly and keep them in good condition hold any object that is loose in the cabin and always use the safety belt never skip a truck that is out of control stay in the cabin check the conditions of the road and report any risk factor as would do with the mechanical flaws of your equipment never use the berm like a shock absorber slow down and stop before touching the berm never go over an area where the material has been extracted from the base of the storage a damaged berm can look good from above but only one part of the berm will have a solid base remember that your truck has blind spots use your mirrors or your cameras if you have them don't use them and touch your alarm to tell the others that your truck is about to move and above all stay alert concentrate on working safely so that you can return home at the end of your day