Source: https://arlweb.msha.gov/regs/complian/ppls/2014/PPL14-V-01.asp
Timestamp: 2017-04-26 04:01:43
Document Index: 476249811

Matched Legal Cases: ['§75', 'art 23', '§ 75', '§ 876', 'art 23', '§ 75']

Arlington, VA 22202-5450 EFFECTIVE DATE: March 27, 2014
SUBJECT: Revised Guidance for Compliance with Post-Accident Two-Way Communication and Electronic Tracking Requirements of the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006 (MINER Act) Scope This Program Policy Letter (PPL) is intended for underground coal mine operators, independent contractors, miners’ representatives, Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) personnel, equipment manufacturers, repair facilities, and other interested parties. Purpose This PPL revises and supersedes P11-V-13. This PPL is a general statement of policy that provides mine operators guidance in implementing: (1) post-accident wireless two-way communication between underground and surface personnel and (2) electronic tracking systems, both of which are required by the MINER Act. The two-way communication systems currently include infrastructure underground to provide untethered communications with miners.
Policy The following guidance is provided to assist mine operators in developing post-accident two-way communication between underground and surface personnel and electronic tracking for their Emergency Response Plans (ERPs). The MINER Act requires that a plan be submitted that provides for a post-accident communication system between underground personnel and surface personnel via a wireless two-way medium and for an electronic tracking system that permits surface personnel to determine the location of any persons trapped underground. If these provisions cannot be adopted, ERPs must set forth an alternative means of compliance that approximates, “as closely as possible, the degree of functional utility and safety protection provided by the wireless two-way medium and tracking system” referenced.
With respect to tracking, because MSHA-approved electronic systems currently are available for use throughout the industry, ERPs must provide for electronic tracking of persons underground. This guidance represents MSHA’s current thinking with respect to two-way communication and electronic tracking for use in mine emergencies. It does not create or confer any rights for any person nor does it operate to bind mine operators or any other members of the public. Mine operators can use an alternative approach or system to provide two-way communication or electronic tracking if the approach or system satisfies the requirements of applicable statutes and regulations. If you are a mine operator, miners’ representative, or miner and want to discuss another approach or system, you may contact the MSHA District Manager for the area in which the mine is located. Other interested parties may contact the individuals identified in this PPL. References to the District Manager in this PPL refer to the Agency’s consultative process for approving mine plans, as opposed to the process for enforcement decisions related to citations. Two-Way Communication Systems
While operators and District Managers must consider mine-specific circumstances in determining appropriate two-way communication systems, this guidance outlines the features MSHA believes would best approximate the functional utility and safety protections necessary to meet the intent of the post-accident wireless communication system, given current technology. However, operators and others may propose other approaches or systems, and the District Manager will exercise discretion in evaluating them.
General Considerations - A post-accident communication system can either be a system used for day-to-day operations or a stored system used in the event of an accident. Examples of currently available technologies that may be capable of best approximating a fully wireless communication system include, but are not limited to, leaky feeder, wireless or wired node-based, through-the-earth, and medium frequency systems. Any system should: Have an untethered device, such as a hand-held radio, that miners can use to communicate with the surface. The untethered device should be readily accessible to each group of miners working or traveling together and to any individual miner working or traveling alone. Provide communications in the form of two-way voice and/or two-way text messages. If text messaging is used, pre-programmed text messages should be capable of providing information to the surface necessary to determine the status of miners and the conditions in the mine, as well as providing the necessary emergency response information to miners. Provide an audible, visual, and/or vibrating alarm that is activated by an incoming signal. The alarm should be distinguishable from the surrounding environment. Be capable of sending an emergency message to each of the untethered devices. Be capable of communicating between untethered devices over the network infrastructure. Be installed to prevent interference with blasting circuits and other electrical systems.
Those areas where miners are normally required to work or likely to congregate in an emergency and can include belt drives and transfer points, power centers, loading points, refuge alternatives, SCSR caches and other areas identified by the District Manager. Entire entries where miners normally work, such as belt, haulage, or travelway entries, may be considered “strategic areas” depending upon mine-specific conditions.
While a coverage zone of 200 feet inby and 200 feet outby strategic areas normally should be adequate, the District Manager may require longer or shorter distances given mine-specific conditions. The District Manager may approve alternative coverage areas to those areas identified in 3.a., such as adjacent entries, for reasons such as radio frequency interference or other factors that may reduce the coverage area at the identified strategic areas. Miners should follow an established check-in/check-out procedure or an equivalent procedure when assigned to work in bleeders or other remote areas of the mine that are not provided with communication coverage.
Communication for refuge alternatives must be provided as required under 30 C.F.R. §75.1600-3.
Permissibility – The communication system must be approved by MSHA under 30 C.F.R. part 23 and applicable policies.
The communication system should be configured to allow communication between underground personnel and the communication facility. 30 C.F.R. § 75.1600-1 requires that a responsible person, who can receive incoming messages and respond immediately in the event of an emergency, is always on duty when miners are underground. The responsible person should be trained in the operation of the communication system and knowledgeable of the mine’s ERP.
A.	General Considerations - Plans must be submitted that provide for determining the location of persons underground using an electronic tracking system pursuant to 30 U.S.C. § 876(b)(2)(F)(ii).
Determining the location of miners within 200 feet of strategic locations. Strategic areas are those areas where miners are normally required to work or likely to congregate in an emergency and can include belt drives and transfer points, power centers, loading points, refuge alternatives, SCSR caches and other areas identified by the District Manager. Entire entries where miners normally work, such as belt, haulage, or travelway entries, may be considered “strategic areas” depending upon mine-specific conditions.
Electronic tracking systems should be installed to prevent interference with blasting circuits and other electrical systems. Permissibility – The tracking system must be approved by MSHA under 30 C.F.R. part 23 and applicable policies.
Scanning rate – To provide timely and relevant information, the tracking system should be capable of updating (refreshing) location data at least every 60 seconds.
The tracking system should be configured to allow monitoring the location of miners underground from the communication facility. 30 C.F.R. § 75.1600-1 requires that a responsible person, who can receive incoming messages and respond immediately in the event of an emergency, is always on duty when miners are underground. The tracking system should include the capability to display the location of all miners underground. The responsible person on duty on the surface should be trained in the operation of the tracking system and knowledgeable of the mine’s ERP.
Location data should be stored for at least two weeks so that it will be available for evacuation and rescue of persons underground, and should also be made available to MSHA upon request for accident investigations. The operator should develop and adopt a reliable method for determining the current and historical underground locations of miners when the system is not transmitting location data to the surface components (e.g., miners are beyond the tracking coverage areas or the electronic tracking system malfunctions). The surface portion of the system should be equipped with the capability to print a list of the last known location of all miners underground and other system data in a post-accident situation. Survivability If system components must be installed in areas vulnerable to damage (such as in areas with adverse roof or rib conditions or in front of seals designed for less than 50 psi explosion force), enhanced protection against damage should be provided. For example, protection could be provided by installing enclosures in recessed areas, around corners, or other areas that reduce potential for damage, or routing and protecting cables such that potential for damage, especially from explosive forces perpendicular to infrastructure, is minimized. The MINER Act does not explicitly require redundancy for tracking systems, however, pursuant to Section 2 of the MINER Act, tracking systems must be “calculated to remain serviceable in a post-accident setting.” As system redundancy is one method for improving the likelihood of tracking capability following an accident, consideration should be given to the use of redundant signal pathways to the surface component as a means to better ensure survival of electronic tracking systems following an accident. Redundancy means that the system can maintain communication with the surface when a single pathway is disrupted. Disruption can be the result of major events, such as fires, explosions, or roof falls, or electronic tracking system component failure.