Safety Conscious Boss Took A Fatal Chance

A crew boss described as “the safest man I ever worked for” was killed when he was hit by a mine train.

He had instructed his workers not to take chances. He told them not to enter areas of the mine where smoke or gas were present. However, he did not follow his own advice when he walked into a tunnel filled with smoke and dust from a blasting operation. He did not hear the train coming, possibly because of the noisy exhaust fan which was running. Visibility was only one or two feet at the time.

Never enter a smoky or gaseous atmosphere unless you are wearing the right respiratory equipment and have taken all other precautions. Don’t compromise safety because you are in a hurry to get the job done. In this case the crew was paid by the amount of work they produced, rather than hourly. Engineering changes may have made a difference too, such as silencers on exhaust and fresh air fans to reduce the noise in the workplace.