 In November, MSHA received a phone call. A mining accident had occurred at a local mine. Inspectors proceeded to the mine to assist in the investigation. The accident involved a radio-controlled miner. The miner operator had been crushed by a continuous miner and was in very, very serious condition. Now, I lost my left kidney. I lost my spleen. I lost about two inches smashed off the end of my pancreas and they put some drain tubes in it and they saved it. I had extensive damage to my left lung and they had to rebuild the chest wall cavity and done a lot of damage to my bowels. I thought they was going to lose them but they done a lot of repairing on them. I broke my arm in three different places. I got a steel plate from my wrist about three-quarters of the way up my elbow. It broke my collar bone on the right or on the left side and another little bone beside a vent and fractured my back in four places. The use of radio technology has removed the miner from the hazards of cutter drums and dust and withdrawn them from the areas of major roof falls. However, the new technology has introduced new hazards into the mining industry. Statistics show that 43 serious accidents and fatalities have occurred due to contact of persons with remote-controlled miners. This video will show you where not to be during various mining situations and to raise your awareness when working with or near continuous remote-controlled mining machines. Those are two safety slogans that I wanted to steal in your guys' mind and by the head out by the boom we're moving from place to place except that a sport of cross-cut and if I can make that miner tram to hit me or hit somebody else, I'm in the wrong spot. The program that we put on yesterday at the mine is developed because the rash of problems that we've had occurred in the state and nationwide, of course. But with the remote-controlled miners, where miner operators are operating a miner in an unsafe location, crushing themselves or crushing other individuals between the miner and the coal rib. Also we had some problems with extended-cut miners where the miner operator to operate the remote-controlled miner were going in by a supported roof while operating a remote-controlled miner. We knew that they didn't have to go in by a supported roof to operate that piece of equipment, but they was doing so and we wanted to find out the reason why. So we did an in-depth survey on all the mines on site, underground, watched the miner operators, talked to them, interviewed them, and wanted to pinpoint the problems or why they was going in by a supported roof or staying beside the miner in pinch-point areas while they was operating it. We are in support of extended-cut mining. We know it's very vital to the mining industry and for y'all to have jobs, but we want safe jobs. And if we do it properly and follow all the precautions in the roof control plan and all the laws, it'll work. So this safety program is just to identify where you cannot be. When fells, that's easy for me to say that, but I know, especially in 50 inches of height and you tramming at miner, it's easy on the first shift of the week. You get towards the last shift at the end of the week and it's been a rough week and we're tired. It takes a large commitment, but that's what we need for you guys to do. Once you start an extended cut, which is more than 20 feet into the unsupported area, that you stay two full rows out by unsupported roof. That means if you cut out one of these rough bolts right here, then that line moves back to the next line. I also want to describe a fatality that occurred in an entry. Miner operator positioned to A-run, or took into A-run, he was backing out. On the line, they were using scoop for haulage. The miner operator started backing the miner out of the cut. He decided to stay along the right cold rib as he was backing the miner out past him. He had a remote control box. During the investigation it was determined that the cable was laying on top of the tram controls. The miner had come over, crushed and killed him. The miner operator definitely is in the wrong spot. He should never position himself in between that pinch point area and the miner. If he was going to come up here and get that cable, you need to make sure you shut that miner off. Don't only just stop tramming, but shut that miner off. Another thing that was wrong with the remote control unit with this miner was that the tram controls on this miner are the self-locking center valves. The locks was in the taped up position, but they didn't have to be pulled up to be activated. There's two things wrong. We should never render in effect a safety device. Even with the levers taped up, the miner operator, if he had been in a safe operating distance from that remote control miner, he wouldn't have been crushed. If you can convince him or show him, hey, this is why you can't be here at his particular mine site, and if you can convince him and say, hey, this is not right. This is the problem areas we're having. And if you continue to stay there, if that's the way you do it, you're more than likely going to end up a statistic. The miner operator was positioned in by a supported roof and in by the three roof bolts that was cut out. He was setting on an oil can on this left-hand side. He wasn't an extended cut and where a large piece of rock had fell on top of him crushed and killed him. Now fellas, as much emphasis as we've placed on staying in under supported roof, here's another fatality that occurred. We've done a lot of studies, a lot of surveys, talked to miner operators, why are we going in by supported roof to operate a remote control miner? We know we don't have to. And if you go to a mine and I'm observing a miner operator take a cut. You can really tell when a guy is operating a piece of equipment in his normal fashion that he's operating it from an area that he's not usually operating when he's having a problem. But throughout the survey and interviews I did with the miner operators themselves I said, hey, why don't you move over to this location like on the off-side of the miner when you get into extended cut when you can't see the operator heading. If it's the outlet side of the scrubber system if they're using the scrubber systems I don't like to be on the outlet side of my scrub. Or, well if he doesn't have a miner well you know I've got to watch my miner cable over here. If that miner operator does not elect to go to that left side and he elects to stay on this right side once he gets in there 20-25 feet he cannot see his cutting drums from this location right here. I asked miner operators during the survey how do you stay on centers once you can't see. Well when that buggy leaves out there I'll come over here, I'll crawl over here I'll look down my sight lines and cut down me a buggy and I'll crawl back down to here say, well that's okay but that's a lot of crawling and then what that does, especially in 50 inches height or lower, that puts you in the way of the haulage equipment coming to you. If anybody's in that working place for extended period of time whether he's a miner operator, miner helper or myself, electrician, section boss it doesn't matter, we need to make sure that we are very visible and you know I think all of us should wear reflective clothing. On these two safety slogans and by the head out by the boom we're moving from place to place except that a supported cross cut and if I can make that miner tram to hit me or hit somebody else I'm in the wrong spot. Say a miner helper was going to help him move to the next place it was an off standard miner and a loop was on the back of the boom. So the miner operator attempts to back up a few feet the signal went bad or whatever the case may be but the miner operator crushed the miner helper with the boom of the miner. It wasn't a fatality but it was a permanently disabling injury. So that's why it's very important that reflective material being in a visible location and safe operating distance from the miner staying all the way to the haulage equipment and staying under this supported roof during extended cut. Those guys ain't any different than you or I. When they went to work that day they thought they was going to come home safe and sound just like they left. The red areas in these drawings are the danger zones. Here are some best practices when working near the danger zones. Be sure the cutting head is against the working face before you position yourself or others alongside the continuous miner outside the danger zone. And while extracting coal it's best to leave two rows of roof bolts between you and the unsupported roof. Always position yourself and others out by the conveyor boom while repositioning the machine. When tramming never place yourself in the location where you might be exposed to a sudden movement of the machine. Stay in by the head or out by the boom except where you can place yourself in a supported cross cut. Don't forget about haulage equipment and wear reflective clothing so other equipment operators can see you. Remember, anyone in the danger zone is likely to be injured by the sudden and unanticipated movement of a remote controlled miner. Always remember during retreat mining that there are other danger zones to take into consideration. Never work in by the continuous mining machine to keep the machine cold. Foreman, when inspecting for hazards always evaluate the locations of persons to ensure that no one is in the danger zone. Continuous evaluation of the roof and rib is vital to ensure that adverse roof and rib conditions are detected and controlled during mining. I was really someplace I shouldn't have been. Something that I've done lots of times but it just finally caught up with me. I mean, there's stuff you got to do. I mean, at times you got to get near the danger zone but when you're tramming the miner don't get around it. I mean, I know everybody's got their own habits. I don't feel that I've done anything that any other miner operator hasn't done. But when you're moving the equipment don't get in there where you can get yourself smashed or pinched or tangled up around that cable and don't never trust those rippers. Don't never get around that miner head because you never know when something's going to happen and they're going to kick on. If you've got that cable loaded up on that it could just suck you right in there right now. It's just like when you're tramming miner place to place. Don't even get in the danger zone because a man never knows when a PQ switch is going to go out and kick it sideways and get yourself in a pinch point. Stay out of the danger zone.