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

140 Where a locked-flame safety lamp is damaged underground, the flame shall be extinguished and the lamp shall not be relit underground.

• 141 (1) No welding, soldering, brazing or other open-flame or heating work shall be carried out underground or at a location above ground that is within 30 m of a shaft or airway unless

  • (a) the employer has given not less than 24 hours notice of the work to a safety officer at the district office;

  • (b) the air in the area where the work is carried out is tested before and during the work and the concentration of flammable gas in the air is found to be not more than 0.25 per cent;

  • (c) the area that is within 8 m of the location where the work is carried out is cleared of all combustible substances and materials that are not necessary for the operation of the coal mine and is thoroughly wetted down;

  • (d) guards are installed to prevent sparks from escaping from the area where the work is carried out;

  • (e) two portable fire extinguishers that have a rating of 10A:60B:C and that meet the standards set out in National Standard of Canada standard CAN4-S508-M83, Rating and Fire Testing of Fire Extinguishers, dated June 1983, are readily available at the location where the work is carried out; and

  • (f) the work is under the constant supervision of a qualified person.

• (2) Where welding, soldering, brazing or other open-flame or heating work is carried out underground, an employee who holds a certificate as a mine examiner shall remain in attendance at the location where the work was carried out for a period of 24 hours after the work ceases.

• (3) All conveyor belts underground shall be so constructed that they are fire-retardant and anti-static.

• (4) Where practicable, lubricants and hydraulic fluids that are used in machinery underground shall be fire-retardant.

Alcohol and Drugs

• 142 (1) Subject to subsection (2), no person shall go or attempt to go underground in a coal mine if the person has in the person’s possession

  • (a) alcohol or drugs; or

  • (b) a match, a cigarette lighter, a cigarette, a pipe, a cigar, tobacco or any other article for use in smoking.

• (2) Subject to subsection (3), paragraph (1)(a) does not apply to an employee who is in possession of a drug that has been prescribed for the employee by a physician or any other drug the sale of which is authorized under the laws of Canada.

• (3) No person shall enter a coal mine if the person is under the influence of alcohol or drugs to such an extent as to constitute a danger to any employee.

• (4) A warning sign of durable construction shall be posted in a conspicuous place at the lamp house of every coal mine and shall bear the following, in white letters not less that 65 mm high on a red background:

  “No alcohol, drugs, smoking, matches, lighters or other articles for use in smoking” and “Défense de fumer ou d’avoir en sa possession des spiritueux, une drogue, une allumette, un briquet ou un autre article pour fumer”

  “Random searches of persons going underground may be carried out for alcohol, drugs and articles for use in smoking.” and “Les personnes qui pénètrent dans la partie souterraine peuvent faire l’objet de fouilles au hasard pour les spiritueux, les drogues et les articles pour fumer.”

Random Searches

• 143 (1) For the purposes of section 142, the mine manager shall, at random intervals not exceeding one month, cause a search to be made of

  • (a) every person who is not an employee and who is granted access to the underground portion of the coal mine;

  • (b) every employee who is not normally employed underground and who is granted access to the underground portion of the coal mine; and

  • (c) at least 10 per cent of employees who are normally employed underground.

• (2) Searches referred to in subsection (1) shall be made

  • (a) in the case of a person referred to in paragraph (1)(a) or (b), immediately before the person goes underground; and

  • (b) in the case of an employee referred to in paragraph (1)(c), after the employee leaves the wash house and before the employee goes underground, or at any time when the employee is underground.

• (3) The mine manager or the underground manager and at least one designated person shall be present to witness any search referred to in subsection (1).

• (4) A person who is selected as the subject of a search under this section may, instead of being searched by another person, search himself in the presence of the witnesses referred to in subsection (3) and two witnesses of the person’s own choosing.

• (5) Where a person who has entered a coal mine is found to have in the person’s possession any thing referred to in subsection 142(1), the person shall

  • (a) be instructed to leave the coal mine as soon as this may be done without jeopardizing the safety of others; and

  • (b) immediately follow the instruction referred to in paragraph (a).

• (6) A complete record of the finding of any thing referred to in subsection 142(1) in the possession of any person shall be made by the mine manager and kept above ground at the coal mine for a period of not less than 10 years after the date of the finding.

Avoidance of Flammable Material

• 144 (1) No flammable material shall be used in the construction of any underground room or part of a roadway that houses main engines, main pumps, booster fans, battery chargers or other mechanical equipment or electrical equipment in a coal mine or a portion of a coal mine if the equipment is installed for the period of time during which the coal mine or the portion of the coal mine is in operation.

• (2) No flammable material shall be used within 15 m of the approaches to an area referred to in subsection (1).

• 145 (1) No person shall use flammable material in the construction of any underground engine room, motor room or other room or place in which stationary machinery is operated.

• (2) No oil, grease, canvas or other flammable material shall be stored underground unless it is stored

  • (a) in a non-flammable container; or

  • (b) at a place 15 m away from where it or any other flammable material is used.

Fire Protection Equipment

146 At least one portable fire extinguisher that has a rating of 10A:60B:C and that meets the standards set out in the National Standard of Canada standard CAN4-S508-M83, Rating and Fire Testing of Fire Extinguishers, dated June 1983, shall be provided

• (a) at every working face; and

• (b) at every location where an engine or an electric motor is installed or where flammable materials are stored.

• 147 (1) At least once every month, a qualified person shall inspect all fire protection equipment.

• (2) The qualified person referred to in subsection (1) shall make a written report of the inspection to the mine manager.

• 148 (1) The employer shall, 90 days before commencing the operation of a coal mine, submit to the Coal Mining Safety Commission for approval a plan of the fire protection and water supply systems of the coal mine that shows

  • (a) the location of fire protection equipment;

  • (b) the size of the pipes that supply water to the working faces; and

  • (c) the position of all valves and hydrants on the water supply system.

• (2) The employer shall post copies of the plan referred to in subsection (1), as approved by the Coal Mining Safety Commission, in conspicuous places throughout the coal mine where they are readily available for examination by employees.

• 149 (1) A water supply system for fire protection shall be installed along the side of every conveyor that is in service at a coal mine.

• (2) The flow pressure of the water in the system referred to in subsection (1) at any hydrant on the circuit shall be

  • (a) not less than 340 kPa when two of the hydrants on that circuit are discharging water at a rate of 200 L/min; and

  • (b) measured at a nozzle of 16 mm diameter that is attached to the hydrant.

Measurement

• 150 (1) A qualified person shall, at least once every month, measure the flow quantity and flow pressure of water at the hydrants shown on the plan referred to in section 148.

• (2) A record of the measurements referred to in subsection (1) shall be made by the qualified person in a book kept for that purpose.

• (3) The mine manager and the underground manager shall, every day, examine the book referred to in subsection (2) and countersign the record of any measurement made that day.

Mine Rescue Teams and First Aid Equipment

• 151 (1) The mine manager shall, for each coal mine, appoint employees as mine rescue workers and organize them into one or more mine rescue teams, each consisting of not less than five mine rescue workers.

• (2) The mine manager shall appoint

  • (a) a mine rescue team captain for every mine rescue team referred to in subsection (1); and

  • (b) for each coal mine, a mine rescue station superintendent to supervise the mine rescue teams at the coal mine.

• (3) Every mine rescue worker shall be equipped with the equipment listed in Schedule III.

• (4) During mine rescue work, for each mine rescue worker who is engaged in actual rescue work, one mine rescue worker shall remain in readiness at the fresh air base.

• (5) Every mine rescue team shall be equipped with the equipment listed in Column I of each item of Schedule IV in the quantities set out in Column II of that item.

• (6) Every mine rescue team shall take at least one training session every month.

• (7) At least two of the training sessions referred to in subsection (6) shall be conducted annually under simulated emergency conditions underground.

• (8) Emergency procedures shall be tested at least once every two years.

• (9) The employer shall notify a safety officer at the district office of the day and time of each training session referred to in subsection (6) or (7) at least 24 hours before the training session.

• 152 (1) The employer shall provide a self-rescuer to every person granted access underground and shall train the person in the use of it.

• (2) The employer shall retrain every employee who goes underground in the use of the self-rescuer at least once every three years.

• (3) Every employee shall carry a self-rescuer at all times when the employee is underground.

• 153 (1) The employer shall provide and maintain the first aid supplies and equipment set out in Column I of each item of Part I of Schedule V in the quantities set out in Column II of that item, within 100 m of

  • (a) the face of each development; and

  • (b) each working face on any roadway to that face.

• (2) The employer shall provide every underground manager, overman and shotfirer with a first aid kit that contains the supplies set out in Part II of Schedule V.

• (3) Every overman and shotfirer shall carry a first aid kit referred to in subsection (2) at all times when underground.

• 154 (1) At least once every month, a qualified person shall

  • (a) inspect the first aid supplies and equipment referred to in subsections 152(1) and 153(1) and (2); and

  • (b) make a written report of the results of the inspection referred to in paragraph (a) to the mine rescue station superintendent.

• (2) The report referred to in paragraph (1)(b) shall be countersigned by the mine rescue station superintendent.

Stoppings and Barricades

• 155 (1) Before stoppings or barricades are installed for fire protection in an area of a coal mine, all persons, other than those persons required to install the stoppings or barricades, shall be evacuated from the area.

• (2) No person shall enter an area referred to in subsection (1) for a period of 24 hours after stoppings or barricades have been installed, except for the purpose of saving life, preventing injury or relieving human suffering.

156 Where coal is left unmined as a barrier against fire or flooding or for any other safety purpose, no person shall remove the coal.