The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration blamed the 2011 death of a tire service technician on "failures" by mine operator Newmont USA and by its tire service supplier Purcell Tire & Rubber Co.

Joe Ashdown, 21, of Roseburg, Ore., died Oct. 28 after being overcome by vapors from a chemical solvent he was using to repair a 57-inch OTR tire at a Newmont gold mine in Carlin, Nev.

Purcell said it would appeal the MSHA citations, which were issued last week after a lengthy investigation.

In its report, MSHA concluded that both companies were negligent for failing to provide Ashdown with adequate safety training and failing to properly ventilate the tire repair shop at the mine. “Management failed to install proper engineering controls to control chemical vapors in the work area, provide appropriate respiratory protection and conduct surveys verifying the adequacy of controls,” the report said.

Further, MSHA said the companies erred in allowing the man, who had only worked for Purcell for less than a year, to “perform this task alone, using a hazardous chemical inside a tire, where he was unable to communicate, be heard, or be seen by others after he was overcome by the vapors.”

The report said that when Ashdown was overcome, he was completely out of view, working inside the giant OTR radial. MSHA said the conduct of the two companies exceeded “ordinary negligence” because the parties were “aware of the hazardous chemical being used, yet failed to ensure the control of exposure by either prevention of contamination, removal by exhaust ventilation, dilution with uncontaminated air or the use of appropriate respiratory protective equipment.”

A Newmont spokesman told Nevada media that it has changed its tire repair systems and policies, and that “specific tire repairs that were performed at the time of the accident are no longer done either at the site or the supplier’s facility.”

Now that its report has been issued, MSHA will soon be assessing penalties against both Newmont and Purcell.