H. B. 4556
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss (By Request))
[Introduced
February 20, 2004
; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact
§22A-1-14
of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to requiring all inspectors
inspecting the work premises of any mining concern or
operation for mine safety, to sign in, when requested to do so
by security personnel, in order to acknowledge their presence
on the premises.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That
§22A-1-14
of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. OFFICE OF MINERS' HEALTH, SAFETY AND TRAINING;
ADMINISTRATION; ENFORCEMENT.
§22A-1-14. Director and inspectors authorized to enter mines;
duties of inspectors to examine mines; no advance
notice; reports after fatal accidents.
The director, or his or her authorized representative, has authority to visit, enter, and examine any mine, whether
underground or on the surface, and may call for the assistance of
any district mine inspector or inspectors whenever such assistance
is necessary in the examination of any mine. The operator of every
coal mine shall furnish the director or his or her authorized
representative proper facilities for entering such mine and making
examination or obtaining information.
If miners or one of their authorized representatives, have
reason to believe, at any time, that dangerous conditions are
existing or that the law is not being complied with, they may
request the director to have an immediate investigation made.
Mine inspectors shall devote their full time and undivided
attention to the performance of their duties, and they shall
examine all of the mines in their respective districts at least
four times annually, and as often, in addition thereto, as the
director may direct, or the necessities of the case or the
condition of the mine or mines may require, with no advance notice
of inspection provided to any person, and they shall make a
personal examination of each working face and all entrances to
abandoned parts of the mine where gas is known to liberate, for the
purpose of determining whether an imminent danger, referred to in
section fifteen of this article, exists in any such mine, or
whether any provision of article two of this chapter is being
violated or has been violated within the past forty-eight hours in any such mine.
In addition to the other duties imposed by this article and
article two of this chapter, it is the duty of each inspector to
note each violation he or she finds and issue a finding, order, or
notice, as appropriate for each violation so noted. During the
investigation of any accident, any violation may be noted whether
or not the inspector actually observes the violation and whether or
not the violation exists at the time the inspector notes the
violation, so long as the inspector has clear and convincing
evidence the violation has occurred or is occurring.
The mine inspector shall visit the scene of each fatal
accident occurring in any mine within his or her district and shall
make an examination into the particular facts of such accident;
make a report to the director, setting forth the results of such
examination, including the condition of the mine and the cause or
causes of such fatal accident, if known, and all such reports shall
be made available to the interested parties, upon written requests.
At the commencement of any inspection of a coal mine by an
authorized representative of the director, the authorized
representative of the miners at the mine at the time of such
inspection shall be given an opportunity to accompany the
authorized representative of the director on such inspection.
Any inspector, when requested to do so by security personnel,
shall sign in, upon entering the business premises of any mining concern or operation subject to the provisions of this chapter, by
providing their name, inspector status, employer, and signature on
a log book or ledger provided by the security personnel.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require all inspectors
inspecting the work premises of any mining concern or operation for
mine safety, to sign in, when requested to do so by security
personnel, in order to acknowledge their presence on the premises.
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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