Chapter 22A, Chapter 22A

(a) The provisions governing the handling, storage, transportation and use of permissible explosives shall apply to all other blasting devices employing a heater element when used underground. (b) Where compressed air is used for blasting, the airlines shall be grounded at the co…

HOISTING (a) The operator of every coal mine worked by shaft shall provide and maintain a metal tube, telephone or other approved means of communication from the top to the bottom and intermediate landings of such shafts, suitably adapted to the free passage of sound, through whi…

(a) Use of haulage roads and equipment along with signals and inspection shall meet standards established by the U. S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. The roadbed, rails, joints, switches, frogs, and other elements of all haulage roads shall be constructed, installed, and …

(a) Man trips shall be pulled, unless self-propelled, at safe speeds consistent with the condition of roads and type of equipment used, but not to exceed twelve miles an hour. Each man trip shall be under the charge of a certified person or other competent person designated by a …

(a) On or after July 1, 1971, all conveyor belts acquired for use underground shall be flame-resistant conveyor belts. (b) A clear travelway at least twenty-four inches wide shall be provided on both sides of all belt conveyors installed after July 1, 1971. Where roof supports ar…

(a) The operator or mine foreman of every coal mine, whether worked by shaft, slope, or drift, shall provide and maintain adequate ventilation for each mine. In all mines the quantity of air passing through the last open crosscut between the intake and return in any pair or set o…

Operators of coal mines in which electricity is used as a means of power shall comply with the following provisions: (1) All surface transformers, unless of a construction which will eliminate shock hazards, or unless installed at least eight feet above ground, shall be enclosed …

This part is intended to control the potential health hazards of diesel exhaust by requiring that diesel-powered machines be equipped with clean-burning engines, that exhaust emissions control and conditioning systems may be required on diesel engines as specified by the commissi…

Every diesel power package or diesel engine used in underground coal mining shall be approved by the director when it complies with applicable requirements, standards and procedures established by this article, and be certified or approved, as applicable, by MSHA and maintained i…

(a) All exhaust emissions control and conditioning systems and their component devices for diesel-powered equipment for use in underground coal mines shall be approved by the director. Such approval requires compliance with applicable standards and procedures pursuant to this art…

The director shall establish procedures for monitoring and controlling emissions from diesel-powered equipment. The procedures shall include, but not be limited to, monitoring and controlling activities to be performed by a qualified person.

(a) For monitoring and controlling exhaust gases, the director shall establish the maximum allowable ambient concentration of exhaust gases in the mine atmosphere. Standards for exhaust gases, stated in parts per million, shall be established for carbon monoxide and oxides of nit…

Where track is used as a power conductor, rails and switches on main entries shall be bonded and cross-bonded in such manner as to assure adequate return. At least one rail on secondary track-haulage roads shall be welded or bonded at every joint, and cross bonds shall be install…

Telephone service or equivalent two-way communication facilities shall be provided in all mines at least one of which shall be in service at all times as follows: (a) A telephone or equivalent two-way communication facility shall be located on the surface within five hundred feet…

The following actions are required to detect and respond to excess methane. Subsections (a) through (f) of this section pertain to methane testing with hand-held devices: (a) Hand-held testing required. -- In any mine, no electrical equipment or permissible diesel-powered equipme…

(a) Qualified person to operate cutting machine. -- No person shall be placed in charge of a coal-cutting machine in any mine who is not a qualified person, capable of determining the safety of the roof and sides of the working places and of detecting the presence of explosive ga…

Electric drills and other electrically operated rotating tools intended to be held in the hand shall have the electric switch constructed so as to break the circuit when the hand releases the switch and shall be equipped with friction or safety clutches.

Electric lights or other approved methods of lighting shall be installed so that they do not come in contact with combustible materials, and the wires shall be supported by suitable insulators and fastened securely to the power conductors.

(a) A record shall be kept of oxygen and gas tanks or cylinders taken into a mine and the date shall be recorded when they are removed from the mine. No more tanks or cylinders than necessary to perform the work efficiently shall be permitted underground at one time. (b) Propane …

Mine operators shall maintain face equipment in safe operating condition. Equipment operators shall exercise reasonable care in the operation of the equipment entrusted to them and shall promptly report defects known to them.

Miners exposed for short periods to gas-, dust-, fume- and mist-inhalation hazards shall wear permissible respiratory equipment. Dust shall be controlled by the use of permissible dust collectors or other approved methods.

(a) The cutter chains of mining machines shall be locked securely by mechanical means or electrical interlocks while such machines are parked or being trammed. Loading machines shall not be trammed with loading arms in motion, except when loading materials. (b) Belt, chain or rop…

(a) Definitions. — For purposes of this section, “belt air” means the use of a belt conveyor entry as an intake air course to ventilate the working sections of a mine or areas where mechanized mining equipment is being installed or removed. (b) Upon the effective date of the enac…

(a) In any mine, all workings which are abandoned after July 1, 1971, shall be sealed or ventilated. If the workings are sealed, the sealing shall be done with incombustible material in a manner prescribed by the director and one or more of the seals of every sealed area shall be…

(a) In unusually dusty locations, electric motors, switches and controls shall be of dust-tight construction or enclosed with reasonably dust-tight housings or enclosures. (b) After July 1, 1971, all structures erected on the surface within one hundred feet of any mine opening sh…

(a) The director shall establish values to be maintained for the minimum quantities of ventilating air where diesel-powered equipment is operated. The purpose of these rules is to ensure that necessary minimum ventilating air quantity is provided where diesel-powered equipment is…

Good housekeeping shall be practiced in and around mine buildings and yards. Such practices include cleanliness, orderly storage of materials and the removal of possible sources of injury, such as stumbling hazards, protruding nails and broken glass.

Naphtha or other flammable liquids in lamphouses shall be kept in approved containers or other safe dispensers.

Smoking in or about surface structures shall be restricted to places where it will not cause fire or an explosion.

(1) Employees handling railroad cars shall have access to and use an approved distinct audible signaling device to give warning when cars are in motion. Safety belts shall be worn and properly attached by all car droppers handling railroad cars. Railroad cars shall be maintained …

(1) Traffic directions which differ from standard highways practice shall be posted on signs along the haulage roads at strategic points in letters at least three inches high. (2) Well marked signs conspicuously placed, shall be properly located to alert drivers to existing dange…

(1) Surface installations generally. -- Surface installations, all general mine structures, enclosures and other facilities, including custom coal preparation facilities shall be maintained in good condition. In unusually dusty locations, electric motors, switches and controls sh…

(a) It shall be the duty of the operator, mine foreman, supervisors, mine examiners and other officials to comply with and to see that others comply with the provisions of this article. (b) It shall be the duty of all employees and checkweighmen to comply with this article and to…

(a) Welders and helpers shall use proper shields or goggles to protect their eyes. All employees shall have approved goggles or shields and use the same where there is a hazard from flying particles or other eye hazards. (b) Employees engaged in haulage operations and all other p…

All surface mine employees shall be required to wear safety helmets when working in areas where there is a possible danger of head injury from impact, or from falling or flying objects, or from electrical shock and burns: Provided, That such employees shall not be required to wea…

Each mine shall have a check-in and check-out system which will provide positive identification of every person underground and will provide an accurate record of the persons in the mine kept on the surface in a place that will not be affected in the event of an explosion. Said r…

(a) No miner, worker or other person shall knowingly injure any shaft, lamp, instrument, air course, or brattice, or obstruct or throw open airways, or carry matches or open lights in the places worked by safety lights, or disturb any part of the machinery or appliances, open a d…

(a) Suitable fire protection shall be provided at surface installations of fans, shops, tipples and preparation plants, substations, hoist rooms and compressor stations. (b) Fire drills and demonstration of various types of available firefighting equipment shall be held for emplo…

(a) Each operator of an underground coal mine shall maintain a supply of first-aid equipment at each of the following locations: (1) At the mine dispatcher’s office and on the surface in close proximity to the mine entry. (2) At the bottom of each regularly traveled slope or shaf…

Mining equipment being transported or trammed underground, other than ordinary sectional movements, shall be transported or trammed by qualified personnel. When equipment is being transported or trammed where trolley wire is energized on the split of air in which said equipment i…

(a) No operator or mine foreman of any coal mine shall employ any person to work in such mine, or permit any persons to be in the mine for the purpose of working therein unless they are provided with two openings or outlets to each seam, separated by natural strata, such openings…

(a) The director shall establish standards for fuel to be used in diesel-powered equipment in underground coal mines. A purpose of these standards is to require the use of low volatile fuels that will lower diesel engine gaseous and particulate emissions and will reduce equipment…

(a) The director shall establish requirements for the safe storage of diesel fuel underground so as to minimize the risks associated with fire hazards in areas where diesel fuel is stored. (b) (1) The director shall either provide: (A) That all stationary underground diesel fuel …

The director shall establish requirements governing the refueling of diesel-powered equipment which shall, at a minimum, comply with the provisions of part 75 of the code of federal regulations dealing with the dispensing of diesel fuel, set forth in 30 C. F. R. §75.1905, effecti…

(a) Fueling of diesel-powered equipment is not to be conducted in the intake escapeways unless the mine design and entry configuration make it necessary. For those cases where fueling in the intake escapeways is necessary, the director shall establish a procedure whereby the mine…

(a) Coal storage bins hereafter constructed with vertical sides fifty feet or over in height shall be provided with ventilators or louvers or both to provide adequate ventilation. Where roofs are constructed over coal storage bins, adequate ventilation shall be provided by stacks…

Thermal coal dryer plants shall be hereafter constructed, maintained and operated in compliance with the following provisions: (1) Good housekeeping shall be practiced in and around thermal dryer plants. (2) Adequate firefighting facilities shall be provided on all floors. (3) Wh…

(a) No mine may be opened or reopened unless prior approval has been obtained from the Director of the Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training. The director may not unreasonably withhold approval. The operator shall pay a fee of $100 for the approval, which shall be tendere…

(a) After July 1, 1971, when any coal mine is worked out or indefinitely closed, such mine openings shall be properly sealed within ninety days after the mine is abandoned. (b) Mines temporarily inactive for less than ninety days shall be adequately fenced with conspicuous signs …

Any operator working up to an abandoned coal mine may be permitted to work to his property line, if approved by the director, but in such cases precaution must be taken as provided in this article.