Federal Report Finds Mislabeled Switch Caused Fatal Electrocution at Montana’s Stillwater Mine
Why It Matters
A federal investigation into a fatal workplace accident at a Montana palladium mine has concluded that inadequate equipment labeling and insufficient safety training contributed directly to an electrician’s death. The findings have prompted enforcement action and policy changes at one of the state’s major mining operations.
What Happened
Brian Hanson, 50, died on July 26, 2025, after receiving a 7,600-volt electrical shock while performing maintenance work underground at the Stillwater Mine near Columbus, Montana. The Mine Safety and Health Administration completed its investigation and released a final fatality report identifying the chain of failures that led to his death.
On the morning of the accident, Hanson and a crew were working on a transformer — a device that transfers electrical power between circuits at different voltages. His supervisor instructed the team to cut power using a manual switch rather than following their standard procedure, but never specified which switch should be used.
Hanson told coworkers he was going to “lock out” the equipment, an industry safety practice in which a padlock is secured to de-energized equipment to signal it is safe to work on. His lock was later found on a switch that controlled an entirely different transformer. The switch Hanson used was not labeled to identify which units it controlled, and its location provided no clear indication either.
Believing the power had been cut, Hanson climbed into the transformer to clean it. Electrical current was still flowing through the unit, and he suffered a shock equivalent in voltage to the power lines that supply electricity to residential neighborhoods. He did not survive.
By the Numbers
- 7,600 volts — the strength of the electrical shock Hanson received
- 5.5 years — Hanson’s tenure at the Stillwater Mine
- 23 years — his additional experience as an electrician in the oil and gas industry
- 3 — enforcement actions MSHA issued against the mine following the investigation
- 4 — worker deaths at Stillwater Mine in the past five years, according to MSHA records
Three Causes Identified
Investigators identified three root causes in the fatality report: the failure to confirm power was fully cut before maintenance began; the failure to label principal power switches with the units they controlled; and the failure to train Hanson and his colleagues on the revised shutdown procedure the supervisor had introduced that morning.
MSHA issued three enforcement actions against the mine as a result. The agency declined to release copies of those documents. Heather McDowell, vice president of legal and external affairs for the Stillwater Mining Company, did not respond to a request for comment.
Following Hanson’s death, the mine undertook several corrective measures, including drafting new policies for securing equipment during maintenance, updating worker safety training, and implementing a labeling system to make power switches clearly identifiable.
Zoom Out
Hanson’s death was the fourth fatality at the Stillwater Mine in five years. In 2021, two supervisors were killed when an underground train struck their utility vehicle. In 2023, a miner died after becoming entangled in a rotating drill steel during a bit change. The pattern places renewed scrutiny on safety practices at the facility.
The Stillwater Mine is owned by Sibanye-Stillwater, a company headquartered in South Africa, and is one of only two primary platinum-group metals mining operations in the United States. Mining and land-use questions have drawn increasing attention across the Mountain West, as federal and state agencies weigh industrial activity against environmental and worker-safety considerations.
Lockout/tagout procedures — the federally mandated safety protocols designed to prevent exactly this type of accident — are governed by OSHA regulations that apply across industrial sectors. When those procedures are modified or communicated imprecisely, investigators note, the risk of fatal error rises substantially.
What’s Next
The three MSHA enforcement actions against the Stillwater Mine remain part of the official record, though their specific terms have not been made public. The corrective measures the mine has already taken will likely be reviewed as part of any follow-up compliance inspections. Workplace and infrastructure safety debates continue to draw policy attention across Montana at both the state and federal levels.