Report: Mine operator’s inspection negligent before accident

HARLAN, Ky. (AP) – Federal regulators have concluded that a Harlan County coal miner’s death earlier this year resulted from the operator’s failure to inspect the mine or correct an obvious hazard.

The Lexington Herald-Leader (http://bit.ly/2agSgIR ) says that a report recently issued by Mine Safety and Health Administration shows that the operator at Lone Mountain Processing’s Huff Creek No. 1 mine engaged in “aggravated conduct constituting more than ordinary negligence.”

The report says 48-year-old Mark Frazier was using machinery on March 25 when a slab weighing more than 5 tons fell on him and killed him.

Officials say a foreman had seen a crack in the wall of the mine minutes before, but didn’t take immediate action to correct the problem.

The report also says mine managers failed to adequately conduct a pre-shift examination.

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Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.