Contractor Killed at West Virginia Coal Preparation Plant

A contractor died in an accident at a West Virginia coal preparation plant.

State Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training Director Ron Wooten says 47-year-old John G. Workman was pinned under a 475-pound metal plate that he was removing from a bulldozer.

The accident occurred between 10:30 a.m. and 12:10 p.m. on March 12 at Appalachian Fuels’ Alloy Prep Plant No. 1 in Boomer.

Wooten says investigators believe a chain holding the plate slipped, pinning Workman. Workman was working alone and no one witnessed the accident.

The death is the first fatal coal mining accident in West Virginia this year. The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration’s Web site lists five coal mining deaths elsewhere in the country.