In a new report, the Mine Safety and Health Association gives more information about a mine collapse in Fayette County earlier this year that killed one person.
MSHA’s report says that David Hayden, who was 49 years old, died when a big rock fell on the equipment he was using.
MSHA’s report said that the accident happened because the mine operator did not use ground support or control the roof in a place where there was a geologic fault.
According to this report, the workers at the Laurel Aggregates of Delaware LLC Lake Lynn mine site did the right tests that morning, January 7, 2022, but Hayden was dead within a few hours.
Hayden’s family includes his wife, five kids, a grandchild, and his father, David Hayden Sr., who talked to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 in January about his son’s tragic death.
Hayden’s daughter, Davina Hayden, said, “He was a great dad, a great husband, and a great grandfather.” “It hurts us all just as much now as it did when it happened.”
After reading the report, Davina Hayden talked to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 on Tuesday night. Davina Hayden said, “I don’t think he did anything wrong.”
According to the MSHA report, Hayden was loading blasted material when a 17-foot-tall, 170-tonne rock fell from the mine roof onto the front-end loader he was driving. Laurel Aggregates of Delaware, LLC was given a citation by MSHA.
The report gives the following explanation for the citation: “There were no roof bolts in or near the area where the rock fell and hit the front-end loader. In adjacent headings and other parts of the mine, where geological faults were found, 8-foot-long, 7/8-inch-nominal-diameter roof bolts are used to hold up the roof.
Now, Davina wonders if this terrible accident could have been stopped.
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“That’s just a little bit of what I got out of it,” Davina Hayden said. “That maybe it could have been.” Sydney Hayden, who is married to Hayden, said that a citation isn’t enough.
“I hope that the death of my husband will make people pay more attention to the safety of other miners and to have a safe place of work. “I hope this never happens again because no family should have to go through this,” Sydney Hayden said.
Laurel Aggregates of Delaware LLC is owned by Arcosa, which put out the following statement.
Jeff Eller, a spokesman for Arcosa, said, “We are currently looking over the Investigation Report that MSHA just put out about the accident that happened at our Laurel underground mine on January 7, 2022.” “We continue to work together with MSHA, and once we finish looking over the report, we will talk to MSHA directly about any concerns.”
Davina Hayden said, “He loved his job for sure.” “He knew it was dangerous, but I don’t think he thought it would ever take him away from his family.”
The bolts that the report said were missing from the area of the mine where Hayden was killed will now be put in all over the mine, within 10 feet of mining space.
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