West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 36 - Coal Mine Health And Safety › Title 36 - LEGISLATIVE EXEMPT RULE BOARD OF COAL MINE HEALTH AND SAFETY › Series 36-09 - Electrical Provisions In Shaft and/or Slope Construction Operations › Section 36-9-4 - Electrical Provisions-Shaft and/or Slope

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
4.1. Power circuits and electric equipment
				shall be deenergized before work is done on such circuits and equipment, except
				when necessary for troubleshooting or testing.
4.2. No electrical work shall be performed on
				electrical distribution circuits or equipment, except by a qualified person or
				by a person trained to perform electrical work and to maintain electrical
				equipment under the direct supervision of a qualified person. Disconnecting
				devices shall be locked out and suitably tagged by the persons who perform such
				work, except that in cases where locking out is not possible, such devices
				shall be opened and suitably tagged by such persons who installed them, or, if
				such persons are unavailable, by persons authorized by the operator or his
				agent.
4.3. Electrical equipment
				shall be examined weekly, tested monthly, and properly maintained by a
				qualified person to assure safe operating conditions. When a potentially
				dangerous condition is found on electric equipment, such equipment shall be
				removed from service until such condition is corrected. A record of such
				examination shall be kept and made available to an authorized representative of
				the director of the department of energy and to the miners in such
				mine.
4.4. Surface transformers
				shall be elevated at least eight (8) feet above the ground or enclosed by a
				fence six (6) feet high, grounded if metal; shall be properly grounded; shall
				be installed so that they will not present a fire hazard; and shall be guarded
				by sufficient danger signs. The gate or door to the enclosure shall be kept
				locked at all times, unless authorized persons are present.
4.5. Electric conductors shall be sufficient
				in size and have adequate carrying capacity and be of such construction that a
				rise in temperatures resulting from normal operation will not damage the
				insulating materials.
4.6.
				Electrical connections or splices in electric conductors shall be mechanically
				and electrically efficient, and suitable connectors shall be used. All
				electrical connections or splices in electrical connections or splices in
				insulated wire shall be reinsulated at least to the same degree of protection
				as the remainder of the wire.
4.7.
				Short circuit protection to protect all electric equipment and circuits against
				short circuits and overloads, shall be provided by an automatic circuit breaker
				or other no less effective device approved by the Director of the Department of
				Energy. Three-phase motors on all electric equipment shall be provided with
				overload protection that will deenergize all three phases in the event that any
				phase is overloaded.
4.8. The booms
				and masts of equipment operated on the surface of any shaft or slope shall not
				be operated within ten (10) feet of an energized overhead powerline. Where the
				voltage of overhead powerlines is sixty-nine thousand (69,000) volts or more
				the minimum distance from the boom or mast shall be as follows:
Nominal power line
Minimum distance (feet)
voltage (in (1,000) volts)
69-114............................................
12
115-229..........................................
15
230-344..........................................
20
345-499..........................................
25
500 or more...................................
35
4.9.
				During construction electrical equipment employed below the collar or within
				twenty-five (25) feet of the return or exhaust of a slope or shaft during
				excavation shall be approved or permissible and shall be maintained in a
				permissible condition.
4.10. The
				insulation of all electric conductors employed below the collar of any slope
				and shaft during excavation shall be of the flame resistant type.
4.11. During the construction of shaft or
				slope only lamps and portable flood lights approved by the Bureau of Mines
				shall be permitted below the collar of the shaft or slope.
4.12. Metallic frames, casings, and other
				enclosures of electric equipment that can become "alive" through failure of
				insulation or by contact with energized parts shall be effectively
				grounded.
4.13. All power wires
				(except trailing cables on mobile equipment, specially designed cables
				conducting high-voltage power to underground rectifying equipment or
				transformers, or bare or insulated ground and return wires) shall be supported
				on well-insulated insulators and shall not contact combustible material, roof,
				or ribs.
4.14. Well-insulated
				insulators is interpreted to mean well-installed insulators. Insulated J-hooks
				may be used to suspend insulated power cables for temporary installation not
				exceeding six (6) months and for permanent installation of control cables such
				as may be used along belt conveyors.
4.15. Power wires and cables shall be
				insulated adequately and fully protected.
4.16. Power wires and cables shall have
				insulation with a dielectric strength at least equal to the voltage of the
				circuit.
4.17. Each undergrounded,
				exposed power conductor and each ungrounded exposed telephone wire that leads
				underground shall be equipped with suitable lightning arresters of approved
				type within one-hundred (100) feet of the point where the circuit enters the
				mine. Lightning arresters shall be connected to a low resistance grounding
				medium on the surface which shall be separated from neutral grounds by a
				distance of not less than twenty-five (25) feet.
4.18. Short circuit protection for trailing
				cables shall be provided by an automatic circuit breaker or other no less
				effective device approved by the Director of the Department of Energy of
				adequate current-interrupting capacity in each ungrounded conductor.
				Disconnecting devices used to disconnect power from trailing cables shall be
				plainly marked and identified and such devices shall be equipped or designed in
				such a manner that it can be determined by visual observation that the power is
				disconnected.