Published: October 2, 2017 |

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Medical personnel did not initially suspect life threatening injuries for Jaime Olivas, the coal miner who died after an accident at Jim Bridger mine Thursday, because he was awake and talking to coworkers.

Olivas was moving equipment when struck by a slab of coal that came lose from the wall at the underground mine, according to company representatives. The incident occurred around 4 p.m. Coworkers performed first aid on site.

Olivas died in the company’s ambulance on the way to the hospital in Rock Springs.

A spokesman for the company explained that the company’s medical personnel did not call in a helicopter after the injury because air transport can occasionally take longer.

“Based on our experience, transport by ambulance compared with helicopter is about the same duration,” said Dave Eskelsen in an email. “There was not suspicion by the medical response team of life-threatening injury. He was conscious and speaking as they brought him out of the mine.”

The mine’s medical team are all state-certified Emergency Medical Technicians and Emergency Medical Responders, he said.

Olivas’ family was notified yesterday.

An autopsy will be done Monday to determine exact cause of death. The Sweetwater County Coroner said Olivas was covered with “large chunks of coal.”

The Wyoming State Mine Inspector was on site Friday.

This is the second death in recent years at Bridger. In 2014, a miner died on the surface portion of the mine.

Bridger is the only underground coal mine operating in Wyoming and employs about 300 people. The mine provides fuel for coal-fired units at the nearby Jim Bridger Power Plant and is partially owned by PacifiCorp, the parent company of Rocky Mountain Power.

Bridger lies about 35 miles outside Rock Springs and was first brought into operation in the mid-’70s.

According to federal rankings, Wyoming was second in the nation for workplace fatality rates from traumatic injuries in 2015. The state is regularly cited as one of the most dangerous places to work.

However, Wyoming has a higher percentage of the workforce employed in high risk industries, from agriculture to mining, that impacts those numbers, explained Meredith Towle, state occupational epidemiologist.

Wyoming’s surface mines are generally safer for workers than the underground coal mines in the eastern U.S.

West Virginia has lost nearly 130 miners since 2004. Wyoming has lost seven.

Two Wyoming coal miners died in 2013 and two in 2014. One committed suicide at a mine. The other three miners were involved in heavy machinery accidents.

Rocky Mountain Power’s CEO Cindy Crane offered condolences to Olivas’ family Thursday.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jaime’s family right now,” Crane said. “A tragedy like this affects every one of us here most deeply.”

Source: Casper Star Tribune

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