Chicago Workers' Compensation Attorney Blog

An employee has died in an Illinois mining accident at the troubled Peabody Energy Mine in southern Illinois, the Associated Press reported.

Our Illinois work injury lawyers just reported about ongoing problems at the mine. Illinois has 19 operating coal mines and substantial mining operations across the southern portion of the state. We wrote recently on our Chicago Workers' Compensation Attorney Blog that the two largest mining disasters to ever occur in the U.S. both happened in Illinois in the 1940s.

In this accident, an employee was struck by a piece of heavy equipment while working underground at Peabody Energy's Willow Lake mine, according to the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. Federal regulators consider Willow Lakes a problem mine; in June, the agency was granted an expedited hearing before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission. Peabody officials termed that move "publicity seeking" on the part of the federal government.

The mine has been fined $230,000 for violations termed "significant and substantial" since late 2008, meaning the government believes serious injury or death could result from the alleged safety infractions. Cited problems, according to the government, include failure to provide adequate protection from cave-ins, and excessive accumulation of combustible materials.

The Willow Lakes facility is large by U.S. standards and employs about 450 people. It produces 3.4 million tons of coal annually.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the worker was killed in an underground incident involving a shuttle car. The mine is closed while state and federal authorities conduct a full investigation.

Peabody officials claim they have taken aggressive steps to improve safety at the mine, including an all-day training session to review safety practices among management, employees and federal mine-safety representatives.