225 ILCS 710/32 — Illinois Code / Chapter 225 / Act 710 / Section 32
Section 32
Status: in_force

(225 ILCS 710/32) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4240) Sec. 32. Hoisting rope; material. It shall be unlawful to use, in any mine, any rope or cable for hoisting or lowering either people or material, when such hoisting or lowering is done by any means other than human or animal power, unless such rope or cable shall be composed of metal wires, with a factor of safety determined as hereinafter set forth. Provided, however, that such metal wires may be laid around a hemp center. A factor of safety of all such ropes or cables when newly installed in shafts less than 3,000 feet deep shall in no case be less than 6 and shall be calculated by dividing the breaking strength of the rope, as given in the manufacturers' published tables, by the sum of the maximum load to be hoisted, plus the total weight of the rope in the shaft when fully let out. It shall be unlawful to use any rope or cable for the raising or lowering of men when its factor of safety, based on its existing strength and dead load, shall have fallen below 4.5. It shall be unlawful to use any rope or cable of the so-called 6 by 19 standard construction for the raising or lowering of people, either when the number of broken wires in one lay of said rope exceeds 6 or when the wires on the crown of the strands are worn down to less than 65 per cent of their original diameter, or when the superficial inspection provided for in this Section shows marked designs of corrosion: Provided, however, that when such broken wires are reduced by wear more than 30 per cent in cross section, the number of breaks in any lay of the rope shall not exceed 3. The superintendent of a mine shall keep a record of every hoisting rope used at the mine or mines in his charge, noting the length and cross-sectional dimensions of the rope, the construction of the rope, the kind of core, the number of strands, the construction of the strands, the number of wires per strand, the class of steel of which the wires are made, the breaking stress of such steel, the breaking load of the rope, the name and address of the maker, the date of manufacture, the date of purchase, the date when put in use, the designation of the shaft and compartment in which the rope is used, the dates of resocketing, reclipping, reclamping, recapping, and shortening, the length of rope cut off at each such operation; the dates of reversing ends, and the date when discarded. A copy of this record shall be filed with the inspector of mines. It shall be unlawful to use any hoisting rope after 3 years from the time of its installment, irrespective of whether use of the rope in the interval has been continuous or intermittent, unless a piece be cut off from the socket end of said rope and subjected to an actual breaking test in the laboratory of a responsible rope manufacturer or a testing laboratory of recognized standing and shall be found thus to be above the minimum limit of strength as prescribed in this Section. Every hoisting rope whereof the hook for connecting with the skip, cage, bucket, or other conveyance is made by means of a babbitted or zinc-filled socket, must be re-socketed at frequent intervals, at least 6 feet of the rope being cut off, and every rope whereof the connection be made by clamps or clips must be reclamped or reclipped with the same frequency as herein specified for sockets, at least 6 feet of the rope being cut off at each time: Provided that if the expected rope life based on previous experiences, be less than 10 months the resocketing must be done every month. And provided further, that if the expected life be between 10 and 15 months, the resocketing must be done every 2 months; if between 15 and 21 months, the resocketing must be done every 3 months; if between 21 and 24 months, the resocketing must be done every 3 1/2 months, and if over 24 months, the resocketing must be done every 6 months. When a new hoisting rope is installed, it must be run for at least 10 trips under full load before it is used for lowering or hoisting people and after each resocketing, reclipping, reclamping, or recapping, every rope shall be similarly run for at least 4 trips before it is used for lowering or hoisting people. All ropes shall be superficially inspected once in every 24 hours by some competent person designated for that purpose by the superintendent. It shall be the duty of the superintendent to cause an examination to be made whenever a rope is resocketed, reclamped, or reclipped, by cutting off from the lower end of such rope a section not less than 6 feet in length and having such section carefully examined both exteriorly and interiorly for corrosion and breaks. If upon any inspection such hoisting rope or cable shall be found to be below the requirements set forth in this Section, it shall be disused for such purpose forthwith, and any operator or superintendent using or permitting the use of such hoisting rope or cable for the purpose of hoisting or lowering people thereafter shall be deemed guilty of a Class A misdemeanor and shall be punished as hereinafter provided. Every rope used for hoisting or lowering people or material shall be securely fastened to its drum or reel and when in use shall never be fully unwound; at least 2 full turns shall remain always on the drum or reel. The end of the rope attached to the conveyance in the shaft shall either be securely fastened within a tapered socket or else it shall be bound around an oval thimble and then fastened to itself by such number of clips or clamps as will develop at least 80 per cent of the strength of the rope and the rope connection shall be maintained at least at that point of efficiency. Every hoisting rope shall be treated with oil or some suitable rope compound at least once every month. Such compound shall be chemically neutral and shall be of such consistency as to penetrate the strand and not merely cover the surface of the rope. Provided, that the terms of this Section, however, shall not apply to the hoisting and lowering of people in shafts over 3,000 feet deep: Provided further, that the terms of this Section shall not apply to the hoisting or lowering of water or other materials in shafts used exclusively for that purpose and whereof no compartment is used for the hoisting or lowering of people. If any shaft exempted by this proviso has a compartment for pipes or any other purpose than hoisting, and repairs or the attention of workers may be required in such compartment, hoisting through the shaft must be suspended while the people are in it. The depth of incline shafts shall be taken as the vertical depth measured from the shaft collar. (Source: P.A. 87-895; 87-1133.)