H. B. 4360
(By Delegates Kessler, Burdiss, Tansill,
Reynolds, Rodighiero, Moye, Barker,
Gall and Staggers)
[Introduced January 31, 2008; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §22A-2-55 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to mine operators providing three
sets of coveralls, with at least four hundred square inches of
bright reflective material, to each employee per year.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §22A-2-55 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, 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.
(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) All operators shall provide, at the operators expense,
each employee three uniforms per year. The uniforms shall be
coveralls with at least four hundred square inches of bright
reflective material.
(c) (d) 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) (e) Safety hats and safety-toed shoes shall be worn by all
persons while in or around a mine:
Provided, That metatarsal
guards are not 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) (f) Approved eye protection shall be worn by all persons
while being transported in open-type man trips.
(f) (g) (1) A self-contained self-rescue device approved by
the director shall be worn by each person underground or kept
within his
or her immediate reach and the device shall be provided
by the operator. The self-contained self-rescue device shall be
adequate to protect a 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.
(2) In addition to the requirements of subdivision (1) of this subsection, the operator shall also provide caches of additional
self-contained self-rescue devices throughout the mine in
accordance with a plan approved by the director. Each additional
self-contained self-rescue device shall be adequate to protect a
miner for one hour or longer. The total number of additional
self-contained self-rescue devices, the total number of storage
caches and the placement of each cache throughout the mine shall be
established by rule pursuant to subsection
(i) (j) of this section.
Intrinsically safe battery-powered strobe lights shall be affixed
to each cache and shall be capable of automatic activation in the
event of an emergency. A luminescent sign with the words
"SELF-CONTAINED SELF-RESCUER" or "SELF-CONTAINED SELF-RESCUERS"
shall be conspicuously posted at each cache and luminescent
direction signs shall be posted leading to each cache. Lifeline
cords or other similar device, with reflective material at 25-foot
intervals, shall be attached to each cache from the last open
crosscut to the surface. The operator shall conduct weekly
inspections of each cache, the affixed strobe lights and each
lifeline cord or other similar device to ensure operability.
(3) Any person that, without the authorization of the operator
or the director, knowingly removes or attempts to remove any
self-contained self-rescue device or battery-powered strobe light
from the mine or mine site with the intent to permanently deprive
the operator of the device or light or knowingly tampers with or attempts to tamper with such device or light shall be guilty of a
felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state
correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than ten
years or fined not less than ten thousand dollars nor more than one
hundred thousand dollars, or both.
(g) (h) (1) A wireless emergency communication device approved
by the director and provided by the operator shall be worn by each
person underground. The wireless emergency communication device
shall, at a minimum, be capable of receiving emergency
communications from the surface at any location throughout the
mine. Each operator shall train each miner in the use of the
device and provide refresher training courses for all underground
employees during each calendar year. The operator shall install in
or around the mine any and all equipment necessary to transmit
emergency communications from the surface to each wireless
emergency communication device at any location throughout the mine.
(2) Any person that, without the authorization of the operator
or the director, knowingly removes or attempts to remove any
wireless emergency communication device or related equipment, from
the mine or mine site with the intent to permanently deprive the
operator of the device or equipment or knowingly tampers with or
attempts to tamper with the device or equipment shall be guilty of
a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a
state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than ten years or fined not less than ten thousand dollars nor more
than one hundred thousand dollars, or both.
(h) (i) (1) A wireless tracking device approved by the
director and provided by the operator shall be worn by each person
underground. In the event of an accident or other emergency, the
tracking device shall, at a minimum, be capable of providing real-
time monitoring of the physical location of each person
underground:
Provided, That no person shall discharge or
discriminate against any miner based on information gathered by a
wireless tracking device during nonemergency monitoring. Each
operator shall train each miner in the use of the device and
provide refresher training courses for all underground employees
during each calendar year. The operator shall install in or around
the mine all equipment necessary to provide real-time emergency
monitoring of the physical location of each person underground.
(2) Any person that, without the authorization of the operator
or the director, knowingly removes or attempts to remove any
wireless tracking device or related equipment, approved by the
director, from a mine or mine site with the intent to permanently
deprive the operator of the device or equipment or knowingly
tampers with or attempts to tamper with the device or equipment
shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not less than one
year nor more than ten years or fined not less than ten thousand dollars nor more than one hundred thousand dollars, or both.
(i) (j) The director may promulgate emergency and legislative
rules to implement and enforce this section pursuant to the
provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
(j) (k) The penalties set forth in this article enacted during
the regular session of the Legislature in January, two thousand
six, shall become effective the first day of July, two thousand
six.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the visibility
of each mine employee to help deter accidents.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.