Mining Laws of Ohio, 1921 Part 4

Sec. 946. [=Relating to use of gasoline in mines.=] No gasoline, naphtha or kerosene engine shall be used in a mine, except for operating pumping machinery where electric, compressed air or steam power is not available or cannot be transmitted to the pump, and then the owner, lessee or agent shall observe the following: Notice shall be made to the chief inspector of mines before installing, and the installation and operation shall be subject to his approval: No wood or inflammable material shall be permitted nearer than twenty-five feet of the engine: The supply tank from which the gasoline, naphtha or kerosene is fed to the engine, shall be of metal, with a suitable screw cap opening, fitted with a gasket, so as to make the tank air-tight and prevent the escape of gas into the atmosphere, and the tank kept free from leaks: the gasoline, naphtha or kerosene shall be fed from a tank to the carburetor or mixer by metal tubes securely connected so as to reduce the possibility of leaks to a minimum: The exhaust from the engine shall be conducted by means of metal pipes into the return air current, so that the fumes of combustion will not enter the workings of the mine where the men are required to work, or be conducted in an upcast shaft or slope not used as a means of ingress or egress, or through metal pipes to the surface: At no time shall there be more than five gallons of gasoline, naphtha or kerosene in the supply tank; at no time shall more than five gallons of same be taken into the mine at any one time, and at no time shall there be more than ten gallons in the mine, including that in the supply tank: No gasoline, naphtha or kerosene shall be taken into the mine except in metallic cans, with a screw cap opening at the top, fitted with a suitable gasket: No package or can, or the supply tank of an engine, containing gasoline, naphtha or kerosene, shall be opened until ready to make the transfer from the package or can to the supply tank, and in transferring, a funnel shall be used so as to avoid spilling the gasoline, naphtha or kerosene, and the cap on the supply tank shall be immediately closed: In no case shall the package, can, or the supply tank, be opened, with any open light or other thing containing fire within twenty-five feet of same. (Penalty, Sec.

976.)

Sec. 947. [=Relating to use of electricity in mines.=] The owner, lessee or agent of a mine in which electricity is used as a means of power, shall observe the following in the application thereof:

[=Trolley wires.=] All trolley wires shall be carried at least six inches outside of and parallel with the track rail on the side the trolley wire is located. When regular height is less than six feet six inches from top of rail, the lower side of trolley wire must not exceed six inches from the roof or cross-timber with hangers now in use, with hangers not to exceed twenty-five feet between centers, and the tension sufficient to keep all wires from sagging and to prevent trolley wheel from coming in contact with roof or cross-timbers. All new hangers hereafter installed shall not exceed five inches in depth from lower side of the trolley wire to the roof or cross-timbers.

[=Wires crossing traveling ways.=] All trolley and positive feed wires crossing places where persons or animals are required to travel, shall be safely guarded or protected from such persons or animals coming in contact therewith.

[=Wires opposite rooms and refuge holes.=] All trolley and positive feed wires shall be placed on opposite side of track from refuge holes or necks of rooms.

[=Bare wires; when not to extend into working places.=] No trolley wire shall be extended into or maintained in any room while being used as a working place; no trolley or feed wire shall be extended into any entry beyond the outside corner of the last breakthrough.

[=Switches and circuit-breakers.=] Switches or circuit-breakers shall be provided to control the current at the mine, and at all important points in the mine.

[=Machine feed wires and insulators.=] All machine feed wires shall be placed as near the rib and roof or cross-timbers as practicable; the positive wire to be carried not to exceed three inches from the rib and roof or cross-timbers, measured at the insulators, which shall be so placed as to keep the wire at least six inches outside of the track rail on the side the wire is located. Insulators shall be placed not exceeding fifty feet apart, and all wires shall be carried so that same will be not less than six inches outside of the track rail at any point on the side the wire is located. All positive wires shall be carried on gla.s.s or porcelain insulators, or insulators equally efficient. All negative wires shall be carried on suitable fixtures, and when carried in same entry as the positive wire, shall be carried on the same side of the entry as the positive wire, and as close to it as practicable. When machine or feed wires are carried in same entry as trolley wire, they shall be placed on the same side as the trolley wire, between trolley wire and rib.

Nothing in the foregoing shall require negative wires being carried in same entry with positive wire.

[=Wires in shafts or slopes.=] When necessary to carry wires down shafts or slopes used as travelways, the wires must be thoroughly cased or protected, so that persons cannot be shocked therefrom.

[=Wires; how placed in rooms.=] Positive machine feed wires, when extended into rooms, shall be placed not nearer than four feet of the track, where the room is of sufficient width, and the same shall only be connected to the positive wire or wires on the entry while in actual use. The material used for making such connection shall be of sufficient length to reach across the entry, and when same is disconnected, it shall be kept with the machine operating at such point or working place. No electric wires shall be extended into any room unless a one hundred and fifty foot cable will not reach the face of the room, and then not beyond the outside corner of the last breakthrough.

[=Protection of terminal ends.=] All terminal ends of positive wires shall be guarded so as to prevent persons inadvertently coming in contact therewith.

[=Connection of negative wires, pipe lines and track. Bonding of track.=] The bonded track, the negative wires and metallic pipe lines, when coming near each other, may be connected together at intervals not exceeding five hundred feet, and any track used as the return or earth system shall be properly bonded. In no case shall a pipe line, or any part thereof, be used exclusively as the return, and when connected to the earth system, the negative wire or bonded track shall be of ample capacity, exclusive of the pipe line, to carry the current.

[=Trolley wires; how erected.=] The trolley wire shall be carried upon hangers or other fixtures which will properly insulate it from contact with the roof or other substances, and so the trolley wheel can trail without the necessity of being constantly attended for that purpose, and no trolley shall be run on any wire not so carried.

[=Locomotive must not be operated improperly.=] No locomotive shall be operated by means of a person holding and sliding upon or frequently making contact with the positive wire with any device attached to the cable as a subst.i.tute for a trolley, but these provisions shall not prohibit the operation of a locomotive by means of a cable without the use of the trolley, provided the cable be connected to and disconnected from the positive wire when the locomotive is not in motion.

[=Protection to machine cable crossing entry track.=] Means shall be provided by which machine runners may readily carry the machine cable from the machine to the feed wires on one side of the entry, either under or over the track rails, in the entry where such wires are located, and so the cable will not come in contact with such track rails, thereby reducing the danger of shock to persons or animals required to travel such entry, to the minimum. (Sec. 911, 948; Penalty, Sec. 976.)

Sec. 948. [=Voltage at mines hereafter electrically equipped.=] The owner, lessee or agent of a mine at which electricity with a pressure or potential of more than three hundred and twenty-five volts, or alternating current, is used, shall in addition to the provisions of the preceding section, observe the following:

[=Limit to voltage in or about working places.=] At each mine equipped with electric power after the pa.s.sage and approval of this act, the current used to operate gathering locomotives, mining machines, shearing machines, drills and other machinery, used in or about the working places of the mine, shall not exceed in pressure or potential, three hundred and twenty-five volts, direct current, as shown at the nearest switchboard, and the wires conducting the power from the nearest switchboard shall not carry a higher pressure or potential.

[=Relating to alternating current.=] At each mine equipped with electric power alternating current may be used to convert alternating current to direct current, and to operate motors permanently installed above ground and in underground substations, or buildings especially prepared for them, in a manner subject to the approval of the chief and district mine inspectors, but no wires carrying alternating current shall be used underground except same be carried in an entry or pa.s.sageway where persons and animals are not permitted to travel.

[=Relating to higher voltage mines hereafter equipped.=] At each mine equipped with electric power after the pa.s.sage and approval of this act, when the current used to operate haulage locomotives, pumps and other machinery not located in or about the working places of the mine, is of a pressure or potential in excess of three hundred and twenty-five volts, direct current, the entry or pa.s.sage way where such wires are carried shall not be designated or permitted to be used as the princ.i.p.al traveling way, and when designated or used as the escapement way, the wires shall be protected so that persons required to travel near same in emergencies will not inadvertently come in contact therewith. No pressure in excess of six hundred and fifty volts at the switchboard shall be used underground.

[=Relating to higher voltage, mines heretofore equipped.=] At each mine equipped with electric power prior to the pa.s.sage and approval of this act, where the pressure or potential is in excess of three hundred and twenty-five volts, direct current, or where alternating current is used, and the conditions surrounding the use of same are such, in the opinion of the chief inspector of mines, that the provisions of the preceding section do not provide the required protection from shock to persons employed therein, such additional safeguards shall be employed as may be required by the chief inspector of mines, and the district inspector of mines, jointly.

(See. 911, 947; Penalty, Sec. 976.)

Sec. 949. [=Relating to construction of new mines.=] Any person, firm or corporation beginning the opening of a mine, whether such person, firm or corporation be the owner, lessee or agent of the property upon which such mine is located, or not, shall observe the following in the construction of such mine: If the opening be a slope or vertical shaft, no explosive used therein shall be fired by means of a squib or fuse after the same is extended more than twenty-five feet from the surface, and thereafter and until the slope or shaft reaches the seam, and the entry or landing be extended beyond a breakthrough or other place driven at right angles thereto, no explosive shall be fired except by means of an electric battery operated from the surface after all persons are on the surface. A substantial structure to sustain sheave wheels or pulleys, ropes and loads, shall be provided, and if the opening be a shaft, the same shall be placed at a height of not less than twenty feet above the tipping place. A landing platform shall be arranged in such manner that no material can fall into the shaft while the bucket is being emptied, and in no case shall the shaft be sunk to a depth of more than thirty feet without such structures. If the bucket used for hoisting material is to land on a truck, the track on which said truck is operated, and the platform, shall be so constructed that material cannot fall into the shaft. Rock and coal shall not be hoisted from a shaft or slope except in a bucket or cage attached to the rope by a safety hook, clevis, or other safe attachment, and the bucket or cage securely locked so that same cannot tip or empty while being hoisted. The rope shall be fastened to the side of the drum, and not less than three coils of rope shall always remain on the drum. After the shaft reaches a depth of one hundred feet, the same shall be provided with guides and guide attachments, applied in such a manner as to prevent the bucket from swinging while being lowered or hoisted, and said guides and guide attachments shall be maintained at a distance of not more than seventy-five feet from the bottom of the shaft. The sides of all shafts shall be properly secured for safety, and no loose rock or material shall be allowed to remain on any timber in the shaft after each blast. All loose timber, tools, and materials, shall be kept away from the top of the shaft, so as to reduce the danger of same falling down the shaft. Where explosive gas is encountered, the person in charge shall see that the shaft or slope is examined before each s.h.i.+ft of men enter to work, and before the men descend after each blast. Provision shall be made for the proper ventilation of the slope, or shaft, so that persons working therein will have the necessary air. An efficient brake shall be attached to each drum of an engine used in hoisting material and persons, and all machinery, ropes and chains connected therewith shall be carefully examined once each twelve hours. Not more than four persons shall be lowered or hoisted in or on a bucket at one time, and no person shall be permitted to ride on a loaded bucket. The bucket used in lowering or hoisting persons shall be equipped with proper safety devices, so that same cannot become detached from the rope or cable, and cannot tip or turn upside down while being so used. The chief inspector of mines, and the district inspector of mines, shall have jurisdiction over such mine when the shaft or slope reaches a depth of twenty-five feet, and such person, firm or corporation shall comply with any order issued by either or both of them with respect to the safety of persons employed. Other than the provisions herein, the provisions of this act shall not apply to the opening of a mine until such opening reaches the seam, and the entry or landing be extended beyond a breakthrough, or other place driven at right angles thereto. (Penalty, Sec. 976.)

Sec. 950. [=Additional openings; when and how provided for.=] When in the opinion of the district inspector of mines together with the chief inspector of mines, the ways and means of egress in any mine under their jurisdiction, from the interior working places to the surface, as provided for in this act, are inadequate as a safe and ready means of escape in case of probable emergency, and there are extra hazards of a permanent nature that cannot be removed either from long distance from the interior working places to the exterior openings for egress, from danger of fire at any point, or any other cause that probably will result in the entombment of persons working therein, they shall jointly give notice in writing to the owner, lessee or agent of such mine, and require an additional opening by shaft, slope or drift, from the surface; the location of the interior end of such shaft, slope, or drift, to be sufficiently near the interior working places in that part of the mine where such persons are endangered, to afford such persons safe and ready means of escape, free from such hazards. (Sec. 932; Penalty Sec. 976.)

=RELATING TO SUPERINTENDENT, MINE-FOREMAN AND OVER-SEER.=

Sec. 951. [=Duties of superintendent.=] The superintendent in charge of a mine shall see that the provisions of this act are carried out, and shall, in case of an accident resulting in the death of or injury to persons, carefully investigate such accident, and report to the chief inspector of mines, as provided for in this act, and to the owner, lessee or agent of the mine. He shall give such other notice to the chief inspector of mines as required by the provisions of this act, and shall co-operate with the mine-foreman and direct him as may be necessary in securing a compliance with the provisions of this act, and the safety of the persons employed in the mine.

Nothing herein shall prohibit the superintendent from fulfilling the duties of mine-foreman. (Sec. 940, 953, 962, 965; Penalty, Sec.

976.)

Sec. 952. [=Duties of mine foreman.=] The mine-foreman shall attend personally to his duties in the mine, carry out all the provisions set forth in this act, see that the regulations prescribed for each cla.s.s of workmen under his charge are carried out in the strictest manner possible, and see that any deviations from any of them are promptly adjusted. (Sec. 953, 965.)

[=When ventilation stops.=] In case of accident to a ventilating fan, or its machinery, whereby the ventilation of the mine would be seriously interrupted, he shall promptly order the men to immediately withdraw from the mine and not return to their work until the ventilation has been restored, and his permission to enter is given; if at a mine which generates fire-damp, he shall not order them to return until the mine has been thoroughly examined by him, or his a.s.sistant, and reported to be safe. (Sec. 922, 923, 924.)

[=Dangerous places fenced.=] He shall see that all dangerous places are properly fenced off, and proper danger signal boards are hung on such fencing that they may be plainly seen; he shall also travel all air-ways, and examine all the accessible openings to old workings as often as is necessary to insure their safety. (Sec. 925.)

[=Examination of working places.=] He shall examine each working place, or have it examined by his a.s.sistant, at least once each alternate day that persons are or should be at work therein and oftener, when, in his judgment, the circ.u.mstances require. He shall instruct pick miners and machine runners regarding the width of working places. (Sec. 956.)

Sec. 953. [=When working place is unsafe.=] When a working place becomes unsafe from any cause, he shall order the person or persons working therein, to cease mining or loading, and not to remain in such working place, except as may be necessary to make it safe, until it is made safe. (Sec. 956.)

[=Supplying of props and timber.=] He shall see that the working place of each miner is kept supplied with props of approximate length, caps, and other timbers necessary to securely prop the roof thereof. When he examines a working place, he shall observe the condition of the roof and timbering, and instruct the workmen therein as to the proper method of timbering for the security of the roof. He shall give such instructions to drivers, motormen, trip-riders, and other persons, as may be necessary to keep a supply of timber in each working place. (Sec. 933, 956.)

[=Miner without props or timber.=] When he finds a miner in a working place without the necessary props, caps or timbers to securely prop the roof thereof, he shall order such miner to leave such working place until the required timber is supplied, which he shall attend to promptly, and shall order that no cars be delivered to such miner, until timber is supplied. (Sec. 933, 956.)