H. B. 2480
(By Delegates Kuhn, Fleischauer, Kominar, Preece,
Collins, Whitman and Dempsey)
[Introduced February 14, 1995; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section fifty-five, article two,
chapter twenty-two-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
protective equipment and clothing in underground mines; and
requiring the operator to provide approved eye protection or
cleaning material.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifty-five, 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-2-55. Protective equipment and clothing.
(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. Suitable eye protection or
cleaning material shall be made available at the coal mine site by the operator.
(b) Employees engaged in haulage operations and all other
persons employed around moving equipment on the surface and
underground shall wear snug-fitting clothing.
(c) Protective gloves shall be worn when material which may
injure hands is handled, but gloves with gauntleted cuffs shall
not be worn around moving equipment.
(d) Safety hats and safety-toed shoes shall be worn by all
persons while in or around a mine: Provided, That metatarsal
guards shall not be required to be worn by persons when working
in those areas of underground mine workings which average less
than forty-eight inches in height as measured from the floor to
the roof of the underground mine workings.
(e) Approved eye protection shall be worn by all persons
while being transported in open-type man trips.
(f) A self-rescue device approved by the director shall be
worn by each person underground or kept within his immediate
reach, and such device shall be provided by the operator. The
self-rescue device shall be adequate to protect such miner for
one hour or longer. Each operator shall train each miner in the
use of such device, and refresher training courses for all
underground employees shall be held during each calendar year.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require mine operators
to make available suitable eye protection or cleaning material to employees at the coal mine site.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.