Sasas Incorporated

Plain-English summary

Sasas Incorporated was cited after miner Brad Hobbs was struck and killed by a falling roll of conveyor belt at the Sasas Quarry and Mill. Judge Gary Melick found that the company violated the requirement that people stay clear of suspended loads, and that the violation was significant and substantial. He found negligent supervision and inadequate training because the workers had no experience with the assigned belt-replacement task and the task leader failed to warn them away from the suspended load. The judge assessed a $1,000 civil penalty, while noting that the operator had already paid a separate $5,000 penalty for improper rigging that caused the accident.

Decision snapshot

• Cited standard: 30 C.F.R. § 56.16009
• Outcome: Citation No. 2392700 was affirmed and a $1,000 civil penalty was assessed.
• Key point: Workers must stay clear of suspended loads, and supervisors must provide adequate training and safety direction for assigned lifting tasks.

Full text (FMSHRC public release)

CCASE:
SOL (MSHA) V. S-S-S INC.
DDATE:
19860519
TTEXT:

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         Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
               Office of Administrative Law Judges

SECRETARY OF LABOR, CIVIL PENALTY PROCEEDING
MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH
ADMINISTRATION (MSHA), Docket No. CENT 86-35-M
PETITIONER A.C. No. 23-00192-05502

       v.                               SÄSÄS Quarry & Mill (Pike)

SÄSÄS INCORPORATED,
RESPONDENT

                             DECISION

Appearances: Eliehue C. Brunson, Esq., Office of the
Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor, Kansas
City, Missouri for Petitioner;
John M. McIlroy, Sr., Esq., McIlroy and Millan,
Bowling Green, Missouri for Respondent.

Before: Judge Melick

 This case is before me upon the petition for civil penalty

filed by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to section 105(d) of the
Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. 801 et.
seq., the "Act," charging one regulatory violation against SÄSÄS
Incorporated (SÄSÄS), in connection with the death of miner Brad
Hobbs on July 30, 1985.

 The issues before me are whether SÄSÄS has committed the

violation as alleged and if so whether that violation was of such
a nature as could have significantly and substantially
contributed to the cause and effect of a coal or other mine
safety or health hazard, i.e., whether the violation was
"significant and substantial." If a violation is found it will
also be necessary to determine the appropriate civil penalty to
be assessed in accordance with the criteria set forth in section
110(i) of the Act.

 The one citation at issue, No. 2392700, alleges a

"significant and substantial" violation of the standard at 30
C.F.R. 56.16009 and charges as follows:

   On 7/30/85 a fatal accident occured when a laborer was
   struck by a falling suspended load. He was struck by
   the load as he had put himself in an

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exposed position directly under the elevated load. The
suspended load in this case was a roll of 42" conveyor belt.

 The cited standard states that "persons shall stay clear of

suspended loads."

 The events leading to the death of employee Brad Hobbs are

not in dispute. Hobbs had just been released from military
service and had been working for SÄSÄS as a laborer for only 3
weeks when the accident occurred. Quarry manager and SÄSÄS
president Gerald Smith told senior employee Steve Luebreicht to
take Hobbs and another employee Robert Osborne and show them how
to replace a worn conveyor belt. Neither Hobbs nor Osborne had
done this before. Smith also told crane operator William Swarnes
of the plans to change the belt and that Steve Luebreicht would
tell him when he was needed with the crane. Smith did not
directly supervise the belt change and was not present when the
accident occurred.

 Steve Luebreicht acknowledged that for purposes of changing

the belt he was the "team leader." When Luebreicht arrived at the
conveyor Hobbs and Osborne, along with the new belt and a pipe,
were already there. They ran the pipe through the center of the
rolled belt, passed a chain through the clevis attached to the
crane cable and wrapped the chain around each end of the pipe.
The crane operator raised the new belt into position as
Luebreicht guided him with arm signals, then locked the roll in
position and left the scene.

 The rolled belt was binding against the chain and was

difficult to unravel. Luebreicht had twice before rigged belts
for replacement but those belts were smaller and the chain did
not bind on the belt as it did now. The three men continued
tugging at the end of the belt hanging above them to thread it
into the conveyor. Hobbs was standing on the conveyor when the
belt suddenly fell striking all three and killing Hobbs.

 Osborne testified that in replacing the belt he was taking

directions from the more experienced Luebreicht. According to
Osborne it was difficult to pull the belt and they found it
necessary to go beneath the roll in order to rig it properly.
Suddenly Osborne felt a slack in the belt, looked up and saw the
belt roll falling. Osborne acknowledged that he had never been
trained and had no experience in changing conveyor belts. However
he had once been told by Wayne Smith (President Gerry Smith's
father) not to go beneath any load. He nevertheless went under
the belt on this occasion because he thought it was necessary.

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Howard Lucas an MSHA supervisory mine inspector testified
that the use of a chain in the described manner and particularly a
chain not fastened at either end of the pipe nor at the clevis,
was contrary to accepted safe industry practice. Because the
chain was not fastened at either end of the pipe nor at the
clevis the roll could easily shift position, the chain slip off
and the roll fall. Lucas observed that the manner in which the
roll was jammed against the chain made it necessary for all three
of the miners to pull on it. He also observed that in order for
all three to obtain the best grip on the belt it was necessary
for one of the men to stand on the conveyor beneath the suspended
roll where Hobbs was standing.

 Within this framework of evidence it is clear that the

violation did occur as alleged and was "significant and
substantial" and serious. Secretary v. Mathies Coal Company, 6
FMSHRC 1 (1984). The violation was also the result of operator
negligence. Although SÄSÄS president Gerry Smith testified that
he had showed Hobbs only a week before the fatal accident how to
stay out from under a suspended load at another location on the
mine site and two other SÄSÄS employees had on one occasion
overheard Wayne Smith tell Hobbs not to stand beneath a raised
loader bucket, it is clear that the fatal accident herein was the
result of negligent supervision and inadequate training. Neither
Hobbs nor Osborne had ever had any training or experience with
the assigned task. Moreover the group leader and only experienced
employee present, Steve Luebreicht, not only failed to warn these
two miners about going beneath the suspended belt but indeed gave
implicit acceptance to the violation by placing himself beneath
the suspended belt roll in their presence. Thus while Luebreicht
may not have given direct orders to Hobbs and Osborne to place
themselves beneath the suspended belt roll, he was nevertheless
negligent by omission. The negligent supervision by Luebreicht is
also chargeable to the operator since he was the task leader and
agent designated by President Smith. The inadequate training of
Hobbs and Osborne to safely perform the assigned task also
warrants an independent finding of operator negligence.

 In assessing a penalty for the violation herein I have also

considered that the operator was of moderate size and that the
violation was approprately abated. There is no evidence of any
history of violations at the subject mine. I have also considered
that the operator has already paid a civil penalty of $5,000 for
the improper rigging of the belt roll¬the proximate cause of the
fatal accident. Thus although the instant citation charges a
separate violation I am considering the incident as a whole for
purposes of an appropriate civil penalty.

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ORDER

 SÄSÄS Incorporated is hereby directed to pay a civil penalty

of $1,000 within 30 days of the date of this decision.

                        Gary Melick
                        Administrative Law Judge