Title 15. Mines and Mining — Subtitle 4. Rules and Regulations Governing Mining Activity

Each operator shall notify the Bureau immediately in the manner the Bureau prescribes if:

Each operator shall obtain from the Bureau and keep accessible at the mine a supply of the printed laws, rules, regulations, notices, forms, and record books required by law. He shall see that this material is delivered to every worker.

At least once a week, each operator shall require the superintendent or managing official in charge of the mine to examine, read, and countersign in ink any report the mine foreman enters in the mine record book. If the person finds on examination or otherwise that the law is being violated, he shall stop any violation immediately. Each operator shall require the superintendent or other managing official in charge of the mine, and any other official in whatever capacity, to comply with the provisions of this subtitle, and especially not to obstruct the mine foreman or any other official in the execution of his duties. The operator, or a representative other than the mine foreman, shall visit every working place in each mine once every 60 days in order to note the condition of each place.

Each operator shall assist the Bureau and its officers in making any proper inspection. He shall execute promptly every proper order made under the provisions of this subtitle. An operator may not willfully neglect or refuse to obey any order, or interfere with the Bureau or any agent in the proper discharge of its or his duties.

In order to secure efficient management and proper ventilation of the mine, promote the health and safety of the persons employed, and protect and preserve the property connected with it, the operator of any coal mine in the State shall employ a competent and practical mine foreman in every mine where eight or more persons are employed. Except in a nongassy mine, the mine foreman shall possess a first-class mine foreman’s certificate of competence. He shall have charge of the mine under the supervision and control of the operator.

In a mine in which seven or less persons are employed, the mine operator himself shall hold or shall employ a person who holds a permit of competence issued by the mining authority as provided for in Subtitle 3 of this title. The mine foreman need not possess a first-class mine foreman’s certificate of competence.

If the mine workings become so extensive that the mine foreman is personally unable to discharge his duties, the operator shall employ a sufficient number of competent persons or assistants who have the same qualifications as the mine foreman. However, if any emergency arises making it impossible for any operator to secure the immediate services of a certified or qualified person, he may employ any qualified and experienced person as mine foreman or assistant mine foreman for a period not exceeding 30 days, subject to the Bureau’s approval.

The mine foreman shall devote his entire time to his duties when the mine is in operation. Subject to the supervision and control of the operator, he has charge of the inside workings of the mine and any person employed there. He shall see that any applicable provision of this title, and rules and regulations made pursuant to it are strictly obeyed. For this purpose, the mine foreman, personally or by an assistant shall:

If assistant mine foremen are employed, they shall assist the mine foreman in complying with the provisions of this subtitle. In the absence of the mine foreman, the superintendent shall designate an assistant to perform the duties of the mine foreman. The assistant is subject to the same penalties as the mine foreman for any violation of this subtitle or rules or regulations made under it.

The superintendent or mine foreman in direct charge of the operation of any mine is the agent of the operator. He is jointly responsible with the operator for any failure to comply with the provisions of this subtitle or rules or regulations made under it which govern operators or agents.

The mine foreman, or his assistant on each day the mine works, shall enter plainly and sign in ink, in a book provided for the purpose, a report of the condition of the mine and of his examination of it made on that day and he shall include the following facts:

If the mine is not gassy, a weekly report of all air measurements in the mine are to be taken as required elsewhere. Each report shall be kept in the foreman’s office for examination by the district mine inspector and any person employed at the mine.

The mine foreman each day carefully shall read and countersign with red ink any report entered on the record book of the fire boss.

The mine foreman, on behalf of the operator, shall report immediately to the district mine inspector any violation of this subtitle. The foreman shall make an immediate report to the inspector and mine operator upon the occurrence of any serious or fatal accident on the form the Bureau prescribes.

If the mine foreman or assistant mine foreman violates any provision of this subtitle, or by neglect or for any other cause becomes incapable of properly discharging his duties, the district mine inspector, after investigation, shall prefer charges before the examining authority and take any additional steps the nature of the situation requires.

A mine official, worker, or other person may not solicit or receive any money or other consideration from any person to procure or continue employment for any person, or procure any favor, promotion, advantage, or facility in employment in or about the mine.

The operator of every gassy mine shall employ a sufficient number of fire bosses. Each fire boss shall satisfy the operator of his competence, and shall have first obtained a certificate of competence from the examining authority as prescribed in this title.

Any mine foreman holding a first-class certificate of competency may act as fire boss. In an emergency, any fire boss, properly certified, may act as assistant mine foreman until a regularly qualified person is employed.

The operator shall provide a permanent station at or near the principal entrance of the mine, indicated plainly by legible signs, where the fire boss shall give information regarding the state of the mine to each worker before he goes on his shift. When the working portion of any mine is 1 mile or more from the entrance to the mine or from the bottom of the shaft or slope, a station, with the approval of the district mine inspector, may be located near the workings. No one, except the mine foreman, fire boss, or someone expressly authorized in an emergency, may pass beyond the station until every part of the mine has been examined and reported safe. The fire boss may not permit any unauthorized person to enter into or remain in any portion of a mine through which a dangerous accumulation of gas is being passed into the ventilating current from any portion of the mine. He shall report any violation of this provision to the mine foreman. When the station of the fire boss is located at a distance within the mine convenient to portions being worked, the operator shall wall off any abandoned workings, whether finished or not, from the main intake and manway heading or passageway of the mine by a stopping of masonry or concrete, sufficiently heavy to keep explosive or noxious gas from entering the intake air at any point between the fire bosses’ station and the entrance to the mine.

Suitable duplicate record books shall be kept at the mine office on the surface and at the fire bosses’ permanent station. They shall be accessible to the district mine inspector and any worker at the mine. The fire boss shall enter and sign in ink a full daily report of each day’s examination stating clearly the approximate amount and location of explosive or noxious gas in the mine. The report also shall state clearly the nature and location of any danger discovered in any place in the mine, and whether it has been reported immediately to the mine foreman. The mine foreman shall read and countersign the report each day.

A fire boss may not neglect to make any examination required, fail to report any danger discovered, knowingly report falsely on any condition within the mine, or fail or neglect to make the reports required.

A person may not work in any mine until he has satisfied the operator that he can do the work allotted to him without endangering the lives of his fellow workers, unless the person works with an experienced miner or other qualified person who instructs the person how to perform his duties safely and properly.

Each miner shall examine his working place before commencing work. After any stoppage of work during the shift he shall repeat this examination. If any part of the roof needs propping, he shall prop it and may not commence or resume work until it is made safe. Each miner shall be very careful to keep his working place in a safe condition at all times.

Each miner immediately shall cease work if he finds his place has become dangerous from any cause or condition beyond his power to remedy. Upon leaving the place, he shall install a plain danger signal at the entrance to warn other persons from entering. He shall immediately notify the mine foreman, and may not return until notified by the mine foreman that the danger has been removed.

Each worker at any mine shall notify the mine foreman or other official of any unsafe condition, including unsafe conditions of any working place, haulage road, or traveling way, or of damage to doors, brattices, or of obstructions to any air passage or failure in the ventilation which may become known to him.

A person intentionally or carelessly may not damage any safety lamp, instrument, air course, or brattice, or without authority handle, remove, or damage any fencing, means of signalling, apparatus, or machinery, or obstruct or throw open airways, or enter a place in or about any mine against caution, or carry fire, open lights, matches, pipes, or other smokers’ articles in a gassy mine, or open any door the opening of which is forbidden, or disobey any order given in carrying out the provisions of this subtitle or rule or regulation pursuant to it, or do any other act whereby the lives or health of persons employed or the security of the mine property is endangered.

Each employee shall observe in and about the mine any special duty relating to the security of life or property as the Bureau, by classes of employment, defines and requires by rule or regulation.

The mine operator shall direct the attention of each worker to the general and special rules and regulations and to any exit and escapeway of the mine in which he works.

If a mine disaster occurs, the proper State and federal inspection authorities shall be notified promptly. All facilities of the mine shall be made available for recovery operations.

After a disaster, when the mine has been placed in condition to operate, an inspection of the entire mine shall be made by State and federal coal mine inspectors. If the inspection discloses any dangerous condition, the mine may not resume operation until the condition is corrected.

The operator of each coal mine shall report monthly to the district mine inspector, on forms the Bureau provides, all required information regarding any fatal and serious accident that has occurred in and about the mine.

If any district mine inspector receives notice that a fatal accident has occurred at any mine, he shall go immediately to the mine to investigate the cause of the accident and report in writing to the Bureau. A copy of the report shall be sent to the operator of the mine. The district mine inspector may require the attendance of witnesses, and administer oaths and affirmations to them. If any person neglects or refuses to obey the summons of the inspector, or to testify, except when his refusal is privileged, the inspector shall certify the person for neglect or refusal to the circuit court for the county in which the investigation is held. The court may punish the neglect or refusal as a contempt. The costs of any investigation shall be paid by the county in which the accident may occur, on the warrant of the Director of the Bureau.

In this section, “pozzolan” means the finely divided residue which results from combustion of ground or powdered coal and is released by combustion gases, as defined by the test methods published by the American Society for Testing Methods.