H. B. 2345
(By Delegates Caputo, Tucker, Kuhn,
Butcher and Boggs)
[Introduced February 20, 2001; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section thirty-seven, article two,
chapter twenty-two-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
requiring that where trolley wire is used in a mine, it must
be maintained to within five hundred feet of the nearest
working face.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-seven, article two, chapter twenty-two-a
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. UNDERGROUND MINES.
§22A-2-37. Haulage roads and equipment; shelter holes; prohibited
practices; signals; inspection.
(a) The roadbed, rails, joints, switches, frogs and other
elements of all haulage roads
shall must be constructed, installed
and maintained in a manner consistent with speed and type of
haulage operations being conducted to ensure safe operation. Where
transportation of personnel is exclusively by rail, track
shall
must be maintained to within five hundred feet of the nearest
working face, except that when any section is fully developed and
being prepared for retreating, then the distance of
such the
maintenance can be extended to eight hundred feet if a rubber tired
vehicle is readily available.
(b) Track switches, except room and entry development
switches,
shall must be provided with properly installed throws,
bridle bars and guard rails; switch throws and stands, where
possible,
shall must be placed on the clearance side.
(c) Haulage roads on entries
shall must have a continuous,
unobstructed clearance of at least twenty-four inches from the
farthest projection of any moving equipment on the clearance side.
(d) On haulage roads where trolley lines are used, the
clearance
shall must be on the side opposite the trolley lines.
(e) On the trolley wire or "tight" side, there
shall must be
at least twelve inches of clearance from the farthest projection of any moving equipment.
Where trolley wire is used, it must be
maintained to within five hundred feet of the nearest working face.
(f) Warning lights or reflective signs or tapes
shall must be
installed along haulage roads at locations of abrupt or sudden
changes in the overhead clearance.
(g) The clearance space on all haulage roads
shall must be
kept free of loose rock, coal, supplies or other material:
Provided, That not more than twenty-four inches need be kept free
of
such these obstructions.
(h) Ample clearance
shall must be provided at all points where
supplies are loaded or unloaded along haulage roads or conveyors
which in no event
shall may be less than twenty-four inches.
(i) Shelter holes
shall must be provided along haulage
entries.
Such The shelter holes
shall may not be spaced
not more
than one hundred feet apart, except when variances are authorized
by the director with unanimous agreement of the mine safety and
technical review committee. Shelter holes
shall must be on the
side of the entry opposite the trolley wire except that shelter
holes may be on the trolley wire and feeder wire side if the
trolley wire and feeder wire are guarded in a manner approved by
the director.
(j) Shelter holes
shall must be at least five feet in depth,
not more than four feet in width, and as high as the traveling
space, unless the director with unanimous agreement of the mine
safety and technical review committee grants a waiver. Room necks
and crosscuts may be used as shelter holes even though their width
exceeds four feet.
(k) Shelter holes
shall must be kept clear of refuse and other
obstructions.
(l) Shelter holes
shall must be provided at switch throws and
manually operated permanent doors.
(m) No steam locomotive
shall may be used in mines where
miners are actually employed in the extraction of coal, but this
shall does not prevent operation of a steam locomotive through any
tunnel haulway or part of a mine that is not in actual operation
and producing coal.
(n) Underground equipment powered by internal combustion
engines using petroleum products, alcohol or any other compound
shall may not be used in a coal mine, unless the equipment is
diesel-powered equipment approved, operated and maintained as
provided in article two-a of this chapter.
(o) Locomotives, personnel carriers, mine cars, supply cars, shuttle cars and all other haulage equipment
shall must be
maintained in a safe operating condition. Each locomotive,
personnel carrier, barrier tractor and other related equipment
shall must be equipped with a suitable lifting jack and handle. An
audible warning device and headlights
shall must be provided on
each locomotive and each shuttle car. All other mobile equipment,
using the face areas of the mine,
shall must be provided with a
conspicuous light or other approved device so as to reduce the
possibility of collision.
(p) No persons other than those necessary to operate a trip or
car
shall may ride on any loaded car or on the outside of any car.
Where pusher locomotives are not used, the locomotive operator
shall must have an assistant to assist him
or her in his
or her
duties.
(q) The pushing of trips, except for switching purposes, is
prohibited on main haulage roads:
Provided, That nothing herein
shall prohibit prohibits the use of a pusher locomotive to assist
the locomotive pulling a trip. Motormen and trip riders
shall
must use care in handling locomotives and cars. It
shall be is
their duty to see that there is a conspicuous light on the front
and rear of each trip or train of cars when in motion:
Provided, however, That trip lights need not be used on cars being shifted to
and from loading machines, or on cars being handled at loading
heads during gathering operations at working faces. No person
except the operator or his
or her assistant
shall may ride on
locomotives or loaded cars. An empty car or cars
shall must be
used to provide a safe distance between the locomotive and the
material car when rail, pipe or long timbers are being hauled. A
safe clearance
shall must be maintained between the end car or
trips placed on side tracks and moving traffic. On haulage roads
the clearance point
shall must be marked with an approved device.
(r) No motorman, trip rider or brakeman
shall may get on or
off cars, trips or locomotives while they are in motion, except
that a trip rider or brakeman may get on or off the rear end of a
slowly moving trip or the stirrup of a slowly moving locomotive to
throw a switch, align a derail or open or close a door.
(s) Flying or running switches and riding on the front bumper
of a car or locomotive are prohibited. Back poling
shall be is
prohibited except with precaution to the nearest turning point (not
over eighty feet), or when going up extremely steep grades and then
only at slow speed. The operator of a shuttle car
shall must face
in the direction of travel except during the loading operation when he
or she shall must face the loading machine.
(t) (1) A system of signals, methods or devices
shall must be
used to provide protection for trips, locomotives and other
equipment coming out onto tracks used by other equipment.
(2) In any coal mine where more than three hundred fifty tons
of coal are produced on any shift in each twenty-four hour period,
a dispatcher
shall must be on duty when there are movements of
track equipment underground, including time when there is no
production of coal.
Such This traffic
shall may move only at the
direction of the dispatcher.
(3) The dispatcher's only duty
shall be is to direct traffic:
Provided, That the dispatcher's duties may also include those of
the responsible person required by section forty-two of this
article:
Provided, however, That the dispatcher may perform other
duties which do not interfere with his
or her dispatching
responsibilities and do not require him
or her to leave the
dispatcher's station except as approved by the mine safety and
technical review committee.
(4) Any dispatcher's station
shall must be on the surface.
(5) All self-propelled track equipment
shall must be equipped
with two-way communications.
(u) Motormen
shall must inspect locomotives, and report any
mechanical defects found to the proper supervisor before a
locomotive is put in operation.
(v) A locomotive following another trip
shall must maintain a
distance of at least three hundred feet from the rear end of the
trip ahead, unless
such the locomotive is coupled to the trip
ahead.
(w) Positive stop blocks or derails
shall must be installed on
all tracks near the top and at landings of shafts, slopes and
surface inclines. Positive-acting stop blocks or derails
shall
must be used where necessary to protect persons from danger of
runaway haulage equipment.
(x) Shuttle cars
shall must not be altered by the addition of
sideboards so as to inhibit the view of the operator.
(y) Mining equipment
shall must not be parked within fifteen
feet of a check curtain or fly curtain.
(z) All self-propelled track haulage equipment
shall must be
equipped with an emergency stop switch, self centering valves or
other devices designed to de-energize the traction motor circuit in
the event of an emergency. All track mounted trolley equipment
shall must be equipped with trolley pole swing limiters or other means approved by the mine safety and technical review committee to
restrict movement of the trolley pole when it is disengaged from
the trolley wire. Battery powered mobile equipment
shall must have
the operating controls clearly marked to distinguish the forward
and reverse positions.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require that where
trolley wire is used in a mine, it must be maintained to within
five hundred feet of the nearest working face.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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