Source: http://www.msha.gov/30cfr/75.364.htm
Timestamp: 2014-07-22 15:14:18
Document Index: 240331551

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 75', '§75', '§75', '§75', '§75', '§104', '§ 75', '§ 75', '§ 75', '§ 75', '§ 75', '§ 75']

MSHA - Code of Federal Regulations - 30 CFR 75.364
- Protecting Miners' Safety and Health Since 1978 30 CFR § 75.364
(a)Worked-out areas.(1) At least every 7 days, a certified
person shall examine unsealed worked-out areas where no pillars have been
recovered by traveling to the area of deepest penetration; measuring methane
and oxygen concentrations and air quantities and making tests to determine if
the air is moving in the proper direction in the area. The locations of
measurement points where tests and measurements will be performed shall be
included in the mine ventilation plan and shall be adequate in number and
location to assure ventilation and air quality in the area. Air quantity
measurements shall also be made where the air enters and leaves the
worked-out area. An alternative method of evaluating the ventilation of the
area may be approved in the ventilation plan.
(2) At least every 7 days, a certified person shall evaluate the
effectiveness of bleeder systems required by §75.334 as follows:
(i) Measurements of methane and oxygen concentrations and air
quantity and a test to determine if the air is moving in its proper direction
shall be made where air enters the worked-out area.
(ii) Measurements of methane and oxygen concentrations and air
quantity and a test to determine if the air is moving in the proper direction
shall be made immediately before the air enters a return split of air.
(iii) At least one entry of each set of bleeder entries used as
part of a bleeder system under §75.334 shall be
traveled in its entirety. Measurements of methane and oxygen concentrations
and air quantities and a test to determine if the air is moving in the
proper direction shall be made at the measurement point locations specified
in the mine ventilation plan to determine the effectiveness of the bleeder
(iv) In lieu of the requirements of paragraphs (a)(2)(i) and (iii)
of this section, an alternative method of evaluation may be specified in the
ventilation plan provided the alternative method results in proper evaluation
of the effectiveness of the bleeder system.
(1) In at least one entry of each intake air course, in its entirety,
so that the entire air course is traveled.
(2) In at least one entry of each return air course, in its entirety,
(3) In each longwall or shortwall travelway in its entirety, so that
the entire travelway is traveled.
(4) At each seal along return and bleeder air courses and at each seal
along intake air courses not examined under §75.360(b)(5).
(5) In each escapeway so that the entire escapeway is traveled.
(6) On each working section not examined under
§75.360(b)(3) during the previous 7
(7) At each water pump not examined during a preshift examination
conducted during the previous 7 days.
(c) Measurements and tests. At least every 7 days, a
certified person shall--
(1) Determine the volume of air entering the main intakes and in each
intake split;
(2) Determine the volume of air and test for methane in the last open
crosscut in any pair or set of developing entries or rooms, in the return of
each split of air immediately before it enters the main returns, and where
the air leaves the main returns; and
(3) Test for methane in the return entry nearest each set of seals
immediately after the air passes the seals.
(d) Hazardous conditions shall be corrected immediately. If the condition
creates an imminent danger, everyone except those persons referred to in
§104(c) of the Act shall be withdrawn from the area affected to a safe area
until the hazardous condition is corrected.
(8) Weekly examinations shall include examinations to identify violations of the standards listed below: (i) § § 75.202(a) and 75.220(a)(1) — roof control; (ii) § § 75.333(h) and 75.370(a)(1) — ventilation, methane; (iii) § § 75.400 and 75.403 — accumulations of combustible materials and application of rock dust; and (iv) § 75.1403 — maintenance of off track haulage roadways, and track haulage, track switches, and other components for haulage; (v) § 75.1722(a) — guarding moving machine parts; and (vi) § 75.1731(a) — maintenance of belt conveyor components. (d) Hazardous conditions shall be corrected immediately. If the condition creates an imminent danger, everyone except those persons referred to in section 104(c) of the Act shall be withdrawn from the area affected to a safe area until the hazardous condition is corrected. Any violation of the nine mandatory health or safety standards found during a weekly examination shall be corrected. (e) The weekly examination may be conducted at the same time as the
preshift or on-shift examinations.
(f)(1) The weekly examination is not required during any 7 day period in
which no one enters any underground area of the mine.
(2) Except for certified persons required to make examinations, no one
shall enter any underground area of the mine if a weekly examination has not
been completed within the previous 7 days.
(g) Certification. The person making the weekly examinations
shall certify by initials, date, and the time that the examination was made.
Certifications and times shall appear at enough locations to show that the
entire area has been examined.
(h) Recordkeeping. At the completion of any shift during
which a portion of a weekly examination is conducted, a record of the results
of each weekly examination, including a record of hazardous conditions found
during each examination and their locations, the corrective action taken, and
the results and location of air and methane measurements, shall be made. The
results of methane tests shall be recorded as the percentage of methane
measured by the examiner. The record shall be made by the person making the
examination or a person designated by the operator. If made by a person other
than the examiner, the examiner shall verify the record by the initials and
date by or at the end of the shift for which the examination was made. The
record shall be countersigned by the mine foreman or equivalent mine
official by the end of the mine foreman's or equivalent mine official's next
regularly scheduled working shift. The records required by this section
shall be made in a secure book that is not susceptible to alteration or
electronically in a computer system so as to be secure and not susceptible
to alteration.
(i) Retention period. Records shall be retained at a surface
representative of miners.