Coal Mining Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (SOR/90-97)

75 Endless hoist ropes that are more than 19 mm in diameter or that are used to transport persons on grades exceeding 4 per cent shall be non-destructively tested at least once every three months.

76 A hoist rope shall be removed from service where

• (a) the extension of a test piece of the rope, when tested to destruction, has decreased to less than 60 per cent of its original extension;

• (b) the number of broken wires in any section of the rope that is equal to the length of one lay of the rope exceeds six;

• (c) marked corrosion of the rope has occurred;

• (d) the core of the rope is ineffectually lubricated; or

• (e) the breaking strength of the rope has decreased to 85 per cent of the breaking strength for the rope set out in the manufacturer’s certificate referred to in subsection 69(2).

Hoist Attachments

• 77 (1) Detaching hooks of a hoist shall be

  • (a) installed between the socket and safety chains on all cages; and

  • (b) cleaned, refitted and tested by a qualified person at least once every month.

• (2) The detaching plate of a hoist shall be

  • (a) placed as high as is practicable above the decking level;

  • (b) capable of holding the mass of the cage if overwinding occurs; and

  • (c) tested once every month by a qualified person using calipers or gauges.

• (3) The clearance between the head sheave and the top of a cage that is stopped at the top of the run shall be not less than 5 m.

• (4) The qualified person referred to in paragraph (1)(b) or (2)(c) shall record the results of the tests in a hoisting machinery record book kept for that purpose.

• 78 (1) All hoist ropes, other than endless hoist ropes, shall be connected to their loads by means of a socket that is designed and installed in accordance with good engineering practice.

• (2) Hoist ropes shall, at least once every month, be fitted with new sockets or sockets that have been cleaned and tested.

• (3) The drum end of a hoist rope shall be fastened to the drum by not less than two clamps.

• 79 (1) The connecting attachments between a newly installed or newly cut hoist rope and a cage or trip and between the hoist rope and the drum shall be inspected by a qualified person before the hoist is used.

• (2) No hoist rope referred to in subsection (1) shall be used for the transportation of persons in a shaft unless two trial winds have been made with the cage or trip loaded to the maximum authorized load of the hoist.

• (3) The trial winds referred to in subsection (2) shall be made over the lesser of

  • (a) the complete run of the cage or trip, or

  • (b) 1 500 m.

• 80 (1) The qualified person referred to in subsection 79(1) shall record the results of the inspection of the connecting attachments in the hoisting machinery record book referred to in subsection 77(4).

• (2) The results of the trial winds referred to in subsection 79(2) shall be recorded by the hoist operator in a hoist operator’s record book kept for that purpose.

Cage and Mine Car Construction

81 Every mine car shall be so constructed that any coupling, shackle pin or safety chain is visible for inspection.

82 Effective on October 1, 1993, every mine car shall have a name-plate that indicates

• (a) the manufacturer’s name and address;

• (b) the tare weight of the fitted mine car;

• (c) the maximum load for which the mine car is designed, expressed

  • (i) in the case of a material car, in tonnes, and

  • (ii) in the case of a man car, in number of persons, calculated on the basis of 81.7 kg per person;

• (d) the maximum speed for which the mine car is designed, expressed in metres per second; and

• (e) the month and year of manufacture.

Man Cars

• 83 (1) Every man car shall be equipped with seats that are secured to the body of the man car.

• (2) At least one man car that is part of a trip of man cars shall be designed to transport an injured person on a stretcher.

• (3) The first man car of a trip shall be secured by a primary fastening arrangement that is

  • (a) in the case of a direct hoist rope system, a rope socket;

  • (b) in the case of an endless hoist rope system, a rope clamp; and

  • (c) in the case of a locomotive system, a coupling.

• 84 (1) Where a man car is used on a gradient exceeding 4 per cent, it shall, for the purpose of coupling it with other mine cars, be equipped with

  • (a) three continuous draw-bars made of steel; or

  • (b) a single draw-bar composite of rolled steel sections and rolled steel plate.

• (2) The continuous draw-bars referred to in paragraph (1)(a) shall be

  • (a) extended the full length of the man car;

  • (b) securely bolted to the floor and base sills of the man car; and

  • (c) visible for inspection.

• (3) Where man cars of a trip are used on a gradient exceeding 4 per cent, the man cars shall be equipped with safety brakes that are

  • (a) interconnected and operated simultaneously with the safety brakes of the other man cars of the trip;

  • (b) manually operable from at least one man car of the trip;

  • (c) automatically operable by an overspeed governor on one of the man cars of the trip in the event of a 20 per cent overspeed;

  • (d) capable of stopping the maximum load of the man car at the maximum gradient of the roadway at the maximum overspeed governor setting; and

  • (e) of a fail-safe design.

• 85 (1) Where man cars that are equipped with three continuous draw-bars are adjacent in a trip, they shall be connected to each other by

  • (a) couplings at the centre draw-bar; and

  • (b) safety chains at the two side draw-bars.

• (2) Where man cars that are equipped with a single draw-bar are adjacent in a trip, they shall be connected to each other by

  • (a) couplings at each end of the draw-bars; and

  • (b) safety chains at two attachments on the chassis of each adjacent man car.

• (3) The safety chains referred to in paragraphs (1)(b) and (2)(b) shall be slack during normal operation.

86 Effective on October 1, 1993,

• (a) every man car shall be equipped with a canopy; and

• (b) the first man car of a trip on a direct hoist rope system shall be secured, in addition to the primary fastening arrangement referred to in paragraph 83(3)(a), by a secondary fastening arrangement that is capable of holding at least 200 per cent of the maximum tensile load of the trip in the event of a failure of the primary fastening arrangement.

Material Cars

87 Effective on October 1, 1993, where material cars of a trip are used on a gradient exceeding 4 per cent,

• (a) material cars that are adjacent in the trip shall be connected by

  • (i) in the case of a material car that is equipped with three continuous draw-bars, safety chains at the two side draw-bars, and

  • (ii) in the case of a material car that is equipped with a single draw-bar composite, safety chains at two attachments on the chassis of each adjacent mine car; and

• (b) at least one material car of the trip shall be equipped with brakes that are

  • (i) capable of stopping the trip in the event of a runaway,

  • (ii) manually operable,

  • (iii) automatically operable by a speed governor in the event of a 20 per cent overspeed, and

  • (iv) of a fail-safe design.