West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 56 - Miners' Health, Safety And Training › Title 56 - LEGISLATIVE RULE OFFICE OF MINERS' HEALTH, SAFETY AND TRAINING › Series 56-03 - Safety Of Those Employed In And Around Surface Mines In WV › Section 56-3-13 - Findings Orders and Notices

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
13.1. Imminent
				Danger, Withdrawal Order, Notice of Violation and Abatement.
13.1.1. If upon any inspection of a coal mine
				an authorized representative of the director finds that an imminent danger
				exists, such representative shall determine the area throughout which such
				danger exists, and thereupon shall issue forthwith an order requiring the
				operator of the mine or the operator's agent to cause immediately all persons,
				except those referred to in subdivisions 13.1.3.a., 13.1.3.b., 13.1.2.c, and
				13.1.3.d. of subsection 13.1.3., to be withdrawn from and to be prohibited from
				entering such area until an authorized representative of the director
				determines that such imminent danger no longer exists. All employees on the
				inside and outside of a mine who are idle as a result of the posting of a
				withdrawal order by a mine inspector shall be compensated by the operator at
				their regular rates of pay for the period they are idled, but not more than the
				balance of such shift. If such order is not terminated prior to the next
				working shift, all such employees on that shift who are idled by such order
				shall be entitled to full compensation by the operator at their regular rates
				of pay for the period they are idled, but for not more than four (4) hours of
				such shift.
13.1.2. If, upon any
				inspection of a coal mine, an authorized representative of the director finds
				that there has been a violation of law, but the violation has not created an
				imminent danger, he/she shall issue a notice to the operator or the operator's
				agent, fixing a reasonable time for the abatement of the violation. If, upon
				the expiration of the period of time, as originally fixed or subsequently
				extended, an authorized representative of the director finds that the violation
				has not been totally abated, and if he/she also finds that the period of time
				should not be further extended, he/she shall find the extent of the area
				affected by the violation and shall promptly issue an order requiring the
				operator or the operator's agent to cause immediately all persons, except those
				referred to in subdivisions 13.1.3.a., 13.1.3.b., 13.1.2.c, and 13.1.3.d. of
				subsection 13.1.3., to be withdrawn from, and prohibited from entering such
				area until an authorized representative of the director determines that the
				violation has been abated.
13.1.3.
				The following persons shall not be required to be withdrawn from or prohibited
				from entering any area of the coal mine subject to an order issued under this
				section:
13.1.3.a. Any person whose presence
				in such area is necessary, in the judgment of the operator or an authorized
				representative of the director, to eliminate the condition described in the
				order;
13.1.3.b. Any public
				official whose official duties require him/her to enter such area;
13.1.3.c. Any representative of the miners in
				such mine who is, in the judgment of the operator or an authorized
				representative of the director, qualified to make coal mine examinations or who
				is accompanied by such person and whose presence in such area is necessary for
				the investigation of the conditions described in the order; and
13.1.3.d. Any consultant to any of the
				foregoing.