Report Released on Boone Miner’s Death

The June 2017 death of a man at a Boone County coal mine was the result of not enforcing approved safety protocols and not having administrative controls to prevent overriding normal operations. The final investigation report was released Friday by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, and says Rodney S. Osborne was using the emergency stop override on a machine, activating it 87 times for over 57 minutes. Furthermore, the report says audible and visual warnings on the machine had been deactivated. Osborne was working at the Gateway Eagle Mine at the time of his death, operated by Rockwell Mining, LLC, a subsidiary or Blackhawk Mining, LLC. Osborne had been a miner for over 9 years, but the report says he did not receive safety training on the machine he was operating.