(a) Worked-out areas. (1) At least every 7 days, a certified person shall examine unsealed worked-out areas where no pillars have been recovered by traveling to the area of deepest penetration; measuring methane and oxygen concentrations and air quantities and making tests to determine if the air is moving in the proper direction in the area. The locations of measurement points where tests and measurements will be performed shall be included in the mine ventilation plan and shall be adequate in number and location to assure ventilation and air quality in the area. Air quantity measurements shall also be made where the air enters and leaves the worked-out area. An alternative method of evaluating the ventilation of the area may be approved in the ventilation plan.
(1) At least every 7 days, a certified person shall examine unsealed worked-out areas where no pillars have been recovered by traveling to the area of deepest penetration; measuring methane and oxygen concentrations and air quantities and making tests to determine if the air is moving in the proper direction in the area. The locations of measurement points where tests and measurements will be performed shall be included in the mine ventilation plan and shall be adequate in number and location to assure ventilation and air quality in the area. Air quantity measurements shall also be made where the air enters and leaves the worked-out area. An alternative method of evaluating the ventilation of the area may be approved in the ventilation plan.
(2) At least every 7 days, a certified person shall evaluate the effectiveness of bleeder systems required by Sec. 75.334 as follows:
(i) Measurements of methane and oxygen concentrations and air quantity and a test to determine if the air is moving in its proper direction shall be made where air enters the worked-out area.
(ii) Measurements of methane and oxygen concentrations and air quantity and a test to determine if the air is moving in the proper direction shall be made immediately before the air enters a return split of air.
(iii) At least one entry of each set of bleeder entries used as part of a bleeder system under Sec. 75.334 shall be traveled in its entirety. Measurements of methane and oxygen concentrations and air quantities and a test to determine if the air is moving in the proper direction shall be made at the measurement point locations specified in the mine ventilation plan to determine the effectiveness of the bleeder system.
(iv) In lieu of the requirements of paragraphs (a)(2)(i) and (iii) of this section, an alternative method of evaluation may be specified in the ventilation plan provided the alternative method results in proper evaluation of the effectiveness of the bleeder system.
(b) Hazardous conditions and violations of mandatory health or safety standards. At least every 7 days, an examination for hazardous conditions and violations of the mandatory health or safety standards referenced in paragraph (b)(8) of this section shall be made by a certified person designated by the operator at the following locations:
(1) In at least one entry of each intake air course, in its entirety, so that the entire air course is traveled.
(2) In at least one entry of each return air course, in its entirety, so that the entire air course is traveled.
(3) In each longwall or shortwall travelway in its entirety, so that the entire travelway is traveled.
(4) At each seal along return and bleeder air courses and at each seal along intake air courses not examined under Sec. 75.360(b)(5).
(5) In each escapeway so that the entire escapeway is traveled.
(6) On each working section not examined under Sec. 75.360(b)(3) during the previous 7 days.
(7) At each water pump not examined during a preshift examination conducted during the previous 7 days.
(8) Weekly examinations shall include examinations to identify violations of the standards listed below:
(i) Sec. Sec. 75.202(a) and 75.220(a)(1)--roof control;
(ii) Sec. Sec. 75.333(h) and 75.370(a)(1)--ventilation, methane;
(iii) Sec. Sec. 75.400 and 75.403--accumulations of combustible materials and application of rock dust; and
(iv) Sec. 75.1403--maintenance of off track haulage roadways, and track haulage, track switches, and other components for haulage;
(v) Sec. 75.1722(a)--guarding moving machine parts; and
(vi) Sec. 75.1731(a)--maintenance of belt conveyor components.
(c) Measurements and tests. At least every 7 days, a certified person shall--
(1) Determine the volume of air entering the main intakes and in each intake split;
(2) Determine the volume of air and test for methane in the last open crosscut in any pair or set of developing entries or rooms, in the return of each split of air immediately before it enters the main returns, and where the air leaves the main returns; and
(3) Test for methane in the return entry nearest each set of seals immediately after the air passes the seals.
(d) Hazardous conditions shall be corrected immediately. If the condition creates an imminent danger, everyone except those persons referred to in section 104(c) of the Act shall be withdrawn from the area affected to a safe area until the hazardous condition is corrected. Any violation of the nine mandatory health or safety standards found during a weekly examination shall be corrected.
(e) The weekly examination may be conducted at the same time as the preshift or on-shift examinations.
(f) (1) The weekly examination is not required during any 7 day period in which no one enters any underground area of the mine.
(1) The weekly examination is not required during any 7 day period in which no one enters any underground area of the mine.
(2) Except for certified persons required to make examinations, no one shall enter any underground area of the mine if a weekly examination has not been completed within the previous 7 days.
(g) Certification. The person making the weekly examinations shall certify by initials, date, and the time that the examination was made. Certifications and times shall appear at enough locations to show that the entire area has been examined.
(h) Recordkeeping. At the completion of any shift during which a portion of a weekly examination is conducted, a record of the results of each weekly examination, including a record of hazardous conditions and violations of the nine mandatory health or safety standards found during each examination and their locations, the corrective action taken, and the results and location of air and methane measurements, shall be made. The results of methane tests shall be recorded as the percentage of methane measured by the examiner. The record shall be made by the person making the examination or a person designated by the operator. If made by a person other than the examiner, the examiner shall verify the record by initials and date by or at the end of the shift for which the examination was made. The record shall be countersigned by the mine foreman or equivalent mine official by the end of the mine foreman's or equivalent mine official's next regularly scheduled working shift. The records required by this section shall be made in a secure book that is not susceptible to alteration or electronically in a computer system so as to be secure and not susceptible to alteration.
(i) Retention period. Records shall be retained at a surface location at the mine for at least 1 year and shall be made available for inspection by authorized representatives of the Secretary and the representative of miners. [61 FR 9829, Mar. 11, 1996, as amended at 77 FR 20715, Apr. 6, 2012]