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 36-01 - Rules And Regulations Governing Approvals And Permits, Explosives And Ventilation For The Construction Of Shaft And/or Slope Operations In The State Of West Virginia › Section 36-1-31 - Electrical Provisions - Shaft and/or Slope

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
31.1. Power circuits and electric equipment
				shall be deenergized before work is done on such circuits and equipment, except
				when necessary for troubleshooting or testing.
31.2. 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 each person who performs
				such work, except that in cases where locking out is not possible, such devices
				shall be opened and suitably tagged by each person who installed them, or, if
				such persons are unavailable, by qualified persons authorized by the operator
				or his/her agent.
31.3. Electrical
				equipment shall be examined weekly, tested, 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 and to the miners in such mine.
31.4. 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.
31.5. Electric conductors shall be sufficient
				in size and have adequate carrying capacity and be of such construction that a
				rise in temperature resulting from normal operation will not damage the
				insulating material.
31.6.
				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.
31.7.
				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. 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.
31.8. 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 voltage (in (1,000)
								volts)
Minimum distance
(feet)
69-114
12
115-229
15
230-344
20
345-499
25
500 or more
35
31.9.
				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.
31.10. The
				insulation of all electric conductors employed below the collar of any slope
				and shaft during excavation shall be of the flame resistant type.
31.11. During the construction of shaft or
				slope only lamps and portable flood lights approved by MSHA shall be permitted
				below the collar of the shaft or slope.
31.12. 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.
31.13. 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.
31.14. 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.
31.15. Power
				wires and cables shall be insulated adequately and fully protected.
31.16. Power wires and cables shall have
				insulation with a dielectric strength at least equal to the voltage of the
				circuit.
31.17. Each ungrounded,
				exposed power conductor 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.
31.18. 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 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 and a suitable
				means to provide the ability to lock and tag.
31.19. Dry insulating platforms of rubber or
				other suitable nonconductive material shall be kept in place at each
				switchboard and at stationary machinery where shock hazards exist.