Title 25

There shall be appointed by the Secretary of Labor a sufficient number of mine inspectors and other employees, including at least one qualified mining engineer. (Acts 1949, No. 207, p. 242, §3; Acts 1975, 4th Ex. Sess., No. 147, p. 2866, §1.)

No person under the age of 18 shall be employed to work or labor in or about any coal mine in this state. (Code 1896, §2933; Code 1907, §1035; Acts 1911, No. 493, p. 500; Code 1923, §1724; Acts 1935, No. 193, p. 241; Code 1940, T. 26, §158; Acts 1949, No. 207, p. 242, §106; Acts …

No person shall be appointed mine inspector, head mine inspector, or Chief of the Division of Safety and Inspection who, or the spouse of whom, has any pecuniary interest in any coal mine in Alabama. (Acts 1949, No. 207, p. 242, §3; Acts 1975, 4th Ex. Sess., No. 147, p. 2866, §1.…

(a) The Chief of the Division of Safety and Inspection shall: (1) Be a qualified elector; (2) Have had 12 or more years’ experience in the working, ventilating and drainage of coal mines in this state or eight years of such experience plus four years’ experience as a state or fed…

(a) Each mine inspector and head mine inspector shall: (1) Be a qualified elector; (2) Possess a mine foreman certificate of competency of the State of Alabama; (3) Have had eight or more years’ practical experience in coal mines; and (4) Be not less than 28 years of age. (b) The…

The duties of mine inspectors are to make examinations of mines to see that all the requirements of this chapter are strictly observed and carried out. They shall examine the equipment, works, and machinery connected with said mines; examine into the state of coal mines as to tra…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no person shall act as fire boss in any coal mine in this state unless he is in possession of a certificate of competency. (b) No person shall be employed as mine foreman in any coal mine in this state unless he is in possession o…

(a) There shall be appointed by the Governor a board of examiners, all of whom shall be citizens of this state and hold Alabama mine foreman’s certificates, consisting of the chief or the head mine inspector, as the secretary may designate, together with three active practical mi…

(a) Welders and helpers shall use proper shields or goggles to protect their eyes. (b) Employees engaged in haulage operations and other persons employed around moving equipment on the surface and underground shall wear snug-fitting clothing. (c) Protective gloves shall be worn w…

Each mine shall have a check-in and check-out system that will provide positive identification upon the person of every individual underground. An accurate record of the men in the mine, which shall consist of a written record, a check board or a time clock record, shall be kept …

(a) New shafts and partitions therein, made after August 12, 1949, shall be fireproof. (b) Mine openings, where there is danger of fire entering the mine, shall have adequate protection against surface fires or dangerous volumes of smoke entering the mine. (c) There shall be at l…

(a) Each mine shall have an adequate supply of first aid equipment to be used only in case of injury to employees or on the job sickness. These supplies shall be located at points on the surface, at the bottom of main shafts and main slopes, if over 1,000 feet from the surface, a…

(a) Each operator shall report promptly to the chief of the division the occurrence at any mine of any fatal accident or accident involving serious personal injury to any person or persons, whether employed or not. The scene of the accident shall not be disturbed pending an inves…

In any coal mine or coal mines or parts thereof wherein water may have been allowed to accumulate in large and dangerous quantities, putting in danger the adjoining or adjacent coal mines and the lives of the miners working therein, and when such can be tapped and set free and fl…

(a) If a disaster occurs in a mine, the chief of the division and the nearest office of the United States Bureau of Mines shall be notified by the quickest available means. All facilities of the mine shall be made available for rescue and recovery operations. (b) No work other th…

The Chief of the Division of Safety and Inspection of the Department of Labor shall establish and maintain within the State of Alabama and within said division such mine rescue stations as he may determine necessary to carry out rescue and recovery operations of mine disasters an…

Said chief is hereby authorized to have trained and employed at the rescue stations operated by said division within the state, rescue crews as he may determine necessary. Each member of such crews shall devote at least four hours each month, or eight hours bimonthly, for trainin…

It shall be the duty and responsibility of the chief to see that all crews be properly trained by qualified instructors who have a certificate of training from the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The chief may remove any crew member at any time. (Acts 1982, No. 82-439, p. …

Members of said crews shall have one year underground experience, be less than 50 years of age and pass a physical examination by a licensed physician annually. A record that such examination was taken shall be kept on file by the operator who employs the crew members and a copy …

All rescue or recovery work performed by these crews shall be under the jurisdiction of the chief. The division shall consult with company officials, representatives of the Mine Safety and Health Administration and representatives of the miners, and all should be in agreement as …

When engaged in rescue or recovery work during an emergency at a mine, all crew members assigned to the work shall be considered during the period of their work, employees of the mine where the emergency exists and shall be compensated by the operator at the rate established in t…

(a) During recovery work and prior to entering any mine, all recovery crews shall be properly informed of existing conditions. (b) Mine rescue and recovery work shall be carried out under provisions of the applicable federal regulations. (c) The chief may assign rescue and recove…

(a) All main fans shall be installed on the surface, in fireproof housings, the fan situated not less than 30 feet from its air shaft or air course and on one side of the line of such opening so that the fan will not be in direct line of the force of a blast or explosion. The air…

(a) Methane detectors used for examining in coal mines shall be permissible. When not in use, they shall be in the care of certified officials or other competent designated persons, who shall examine, clean, and deliver them in a safe condition to their users before they enter th…

(a) Air in which men work or travel must promptly be improved if it contains less than 19.5 percent oxygen, more than one percent carbon dioxide, or is contaminated with noxious or poisonous gases. (b) If the air immediately returning from a split that ventilates any active worki…

Sufficient air must be circulated and conducted through all entries, slopes, travelways, working places, air courses, and open abandoned areas to dilute, render harmless, and carry off noxious and explosive gases emitted in the mine, including smoke from blasting, and shall be no…

(a) Two available openings to the surface are required from each seam or stratum of coal worked. In drift or slope mines, such openings provided after August 12, 1949, must be separated by not less than 40 feet of natural strata, and all crosscuts between them shall be closed wit…

(a) Abandoned workings that cannot be ventilated adequately with safety to employees must be sealed. The chief of the division will prescribe rules for sealing and periodic testing of air and water behind seals. Failure to comply with rules for sealing and periodic testing will b…

(a) Operators of mines are required to employ one or more certified fire bosses and to have a preshift examination made. The duties of the fire boss are to examine for dangerous conditions all manways, slopes, and entries used by men in traveling to and from work and to examine f…

(a) All flame safety lamps used for examining coal mines or for working therein shall be permissible. When not in use, they shall be in the care of certified officials or other competent designated persons who shall disassemble, examine, clean, fill, and deliver them, locked and …

(a) The operator of each coal mine shall send to the division a report monthly, or more often if necessary, showing the amount of ventilation and methane content at the inlet and outlet, the amount of ventilation and the methane content of return air at or near the last crosscut …

When workings are being driven toward any worked out and inaccessible or abandoned area or a shaft, that may contain accumulations of gases or water and cannot be inspected, they shall be narrowed to eight feet or less in width. Persons driving these workings shall constantly kee…

Each employee shall promptly inform his supervisor or the mine foreman of damage to or unsafe condition of any ventilation appliance when known by the employee or of any obstruction in air passages or other interference with normal ventilation of which he has knowledge. The super…

It shall be a misdemeanor for any person to enter, without an order from an authoritative official, or go dangerously near any mine or part of a mine of which he has been warned personally or by danger board of the presence of gas in dangerous quantities, or knowingly to destroy,…

(a) Coal dust shall not be allowed to accumulate excessively along conveyor lines, roadways, at loading points or at underground tipples, but shall be loaded and sent out of the mines. Coal dust in dangerous quantities in abandoned areas shall, where practicable be rendered inert…

(a) Rock dust to be used to render coal dust inert shall come within the following specifications: Combustible matter not more than five percent by volume, quartz or free silica particles not more than five percent by volume, and not unduly absorbent of moisture and preferably li…

(a) Permissible explosives or permissible blasting methods only shall be used in blasting coal or coal and other material in all mines where on shift. (b) Black blasting powder shall not be stored or used in underground coal mines. (c) Prior to use of Cardox or Airdox, both of wh…

(a) Separate surface magazines shall be provided for the storage of explosives and detonators and shall be kept in good repair. (b) Magazines shall be constructed of or covered with fire and weather resistant material, shall be reasonably bullet proof and shall have no metal or s…

(a) Individual containers used to carry permissible explosives or detonators shall be constructed of substantial, nonconductive material, kept closed and maintained in good condition. (b) When explosives or detonators are transported underground by locomotive, rope, or shuttle ca…

(a) Underground section boxes or magazines shall be constructed of substantial nonsparking material and shall be placed in a crosscut or idle room neck at least 25 feet from roadways, trolley wires, or power lines, at least 75 feet from any working face and in a reasonably dry an…

(a) Only competent persons shall be designated or permitted to handle explosives or do blasting. Only electric detonators of proper strength may be used and the use of delay electric detonators is prohibited for blasting coal or coal and other material. Primers shall be made up a…

Blasting cables shall be: (1) Kept well insulated and as long as may be necessary to permit the shot firer to get in a safe place around a corner. (2) Short circuited at the battery end until ready to attach to the blasting unit. (3) Staggered as to length or kept well separated …

(a) Where misfires occur with electric detonators, the person firing the shots shall disconnect his firing cable from the source of power and short circuit it by reshunting the ends of the cable. No person shall return to the shot until five minutes has elapsed from the misfire, …

A prompt report shall be made to the chief of the division in any case of premature detonation or explosion of explosives, whether or not any person is injured. (Acts 1949, No. 207, p. 242, §32.)

(a) No person shall build a fire or cause a fire to be built in any coal mine, except as provided hereinafter. (b) Torches may be used by competent persons in mines for splicing trailing cables, provided suitable precautions are taken against ignition of methane, coal dust, or co…

In any mine or part of a mine which will be neither fire-bossed nor worked on the following shift, a supervisor or other responsible person shall examine all working places after face work ceases for evidence of fire. (Acts 1949, No. 207, p. 242, §34.)