Virginia Administrative Code › Title 4 - CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES › Agency 25 - DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY › Chapter 40 - SAFETY AND HEALTH REGULATIONS FOR MINERAL MINING › Part I - General Administrative Provisions-Surface and Underground › Section 4VAC25-40-10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this chapter
					 shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
					 otherwise:
"Abandoned mine" means a mine in which all work has stopped
					 on the mine premises and where an office with a responsible person in charge is
					 no longer maintained at the mine.
"Abandoned workings" means deserted mine areas in which
					 further work is not intended.
"Acceptable" means tested and found to be appropriate for a
					 specific purpose by a nationally recognized agency.
"ACGIH" means the American Conference of Governmental
					 Industrial Hygienists.
"Angle of repose" means the maximum slope or angle at which
					 material remains stable.
"Auxiliary fan" means a fan used to deliver air to a
					 working place off the main airstream, generally used with ventilation
					 tubing.
"Barricaded" means physically obstructed to hinder or
					 prevent the passage of persons or vehicles.
"Blast area" means the area of the mine in which concussion
					 or flying material can reasonably be expected to cause injury during
					 detonation.
"Blast site" means the 50-foot perimeter around boreholes
					 being loaded, or 30 feet if demarcated by a barricade, and the 180°
					 free-face area for a distance of at least four times the average depth of the
					 boreholes being loaded.
"Bridle" means a cable or chain used to support a work
					 platform in a raised position with more than three connection points.
"Burden" means the distance in feet between rows of
					 boreholes or between the open face and boreholes.
"Company official" means a member of the company
					 supervisory or technical staff.
"Competent person" means a person having abilities and
					 experience that fully qualify him to perform the duty to which he is
					 assigned.
"Confined space" means an enclosed area that is large
					 enough for an employee to enter fully and perform his assigned work but is not
					 designed for continuous occupancy by the employee and has a limited or
					 restricted means of entry or exit. These spaces may include storage bins,
					 hoppers, silos, tanks, vaults, and other similar areas.
"Department" means the Department of Energy.
"Director" means the Director of the Division of Mineral
					 Mining.
"Distribution box" means an apparatus with an enclosure
					 through which an electric circuit is carried to one or more cables from a
					 single incoming feedline, each cable circuit being connected through individual
					 overcurrent protective devices.
"Division" means the Division of Mineral Mining.
"Escapeway" means a passageway by which persons may leave
					 if the ordinary exit is obstructed.
"Face" or "bank" means that part of any mine where
					 excavating is progressing or was last done.
"Flash point" means the minimum temperature at which
					 sufficient vapor is released to form a flammable vapor-air mixture.
"Free-face" means the face area of a quarry bench to be
					 blasted.
"Flyrock" means any uncontrolled material generated by the
					 effect of a blast that was hazardous to persons, or to property not owned or
					 controlled by the operator.
"Heavy duty mobile equipment" means any equipment used for
					 loading, hauling, or grading and not normally intended for highway use.
"Hoist" means a power-driven windlass or drum used for
					 raising ore, rock, or other material from a mine, and for lowering or raising
					 persons and material.
"Lay" means the distance parallel to the axis of the rope
					 in which a strand makes one complete turn about the axis of the rope.
"Loaded" means containing explosives, blasting agents, or
					 detonators.
"Main fan" means a fan that controls the entire airflow of
					 the mine or the airflow of one of the major air circuits.
"Major electrical installation" means an assemblage of
					 stationary electrical equipment for the generation, transmission, distribution,
					 or conversion of electrical power.
"Mine opening" means any opening or entrance from the
					 surface into a mine.
"Mine vehicle" means any vehicle on the mine site that is
					 utilized by the mine operator or contractors performing excavation,
					 maintenance, or construction at the mine.
"Misfire" means the partial or complete failure of a blast
					 to detonate as planned.
"MSHA" means the Mine Safety and Health
					 Administration.
"Occupational injury" means any injury to a miner which
					 occurs at a mine for which medical treatment is administered, or which results
					 in death or loss of consciousness, inability to perform all job duties on any
					 day after an injury, temporary assignment to other duties, or transfer to
					 another job as specified in the 30 CFR Part 50.2 .
"Overburden" means material of any nature, consolidated or
					 unconsolidated, that overlies a deposit of useful materials or ores that are to
					 be mined.
"Potable" means fit for human consumption and, where
					 required by the Code of Virginia, approved by the Virginia Department of
					 Health.
"Powder chest" means a substantial, nonconductive portable
					 container equipped with a lid and used at blasting sites for explosives other
					 than blasting agents.
"Primer" means a cartridge or package of explosives which
					 contains a detonator or detonating cord.
"Refuse" means mineral processing waste, tailings, silts,
					 sediments, or slimes.
"Rollover protection" means a framework, safety canopy or
					 similar protection for the operator when equipment overturns and which is
					 acceptable for use on that particular type of equipment.
"Safety fuse" means a train of powder enclosed in cotton,
					 jute yarn, and water-proofing compounds, which burns at a uniform rate, used
					 for firing a cap containing the detonating compound which in turn sets off the
					 explosive charge.
"Safety hazard" means any condition, function, or
					 circumstance which may reasonably be expected to cause or assist an
					 accident.
"Scaled distance (Ds)" means the actual distance (D) in
					 feet divided by the square root of the maximum explosive weight (W) in pounds
					 that is detonated per delay period for delay intervals of eight milliseconds or
					 greater; or the total weight of explosive in pounds that is detonated within an
					 interval less than eight milliseconds.
"Scaling" means removal of insecure material from a face or
					 highwall.
"Shaft" means a vertical or inclined shaft, slope, incline,
					 or winze.
"Stemming" means that inert material placed in a borehole
					 after the explosive charge for the purpose of confining the explosion gases in
					 the borehole or that inert material used to separate the explosive charges
					 (decks) in decked holes.
"Substantial construction" means construction of such
					 strength, material, and workmanship that the object will withstand all
					 reasonable shock, wear, and usage to which it will be subjected.
"Suitable" means that which fits and has the qualities or
					 qualifications to meet a given purpose, occasion, condition, function, or
					 circumstance.
"Switch" means a device used to complete or disconnect an
					 electrical circuit.
"Travelway" means a passage, walk or way regularly used and
					 designated for persons to go from one place to another.
"Wet drilling" means the continuous application of water
					 through the control hole of hollow drill steel to the bottom of the drill
					 hole.
Statutory Authority: § 45.2-103 of the Code of
						Virginia.