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

61 Where more than 10 employees normally use a roadway, the roadway shall be not less than 1.5 m in height and, where a conveyor is in service in the roadway, have a clearance of not less than 600 mm between one side of the conveyor and the side of the roadway.

Communications on Roadways

62 Where a trip that is used by persons is operated in a roadway underground that is more than 30 m in length, a means of signalling and communication between all regular stopping places designated in the procedures referred to in subsection 59(1) and the hoist operator or the locomotive operator shall be provided.

Surface Hoist Operation

• 63 (1) Every surface hoist shall be operated by a hoist operator who is a qualified person.

• (2) No person, other than an authorized person, shall enter a hoist room.

• (3) A hoist operator shall be in attendance in the hoist room at all times when a person is in an underground portion of the coal mine that is normally entered by means of a hoist.

• 64 (1) No hoist operator shall operate a surface hoist above ground that is used for transporting employees unless a physician has

  • (a) examined the hoist operator

    • (i) in the three-month period prior to the operation of the hoist, and

    • (ii) on the hoist operator’s return to work after an illness or injury for which the hoist operator received medical attention; and

  • (b) certified that the hoist operator is mentally and physically fit to operate a surface hoist.

• (2) The employer shall keep the physician’s certificate referred to in paragraph (1)(b) at the coal mine in which the hoist operator who is the subject of the certificate works.

Surface Hoist Standards

• 65 (1) Every surface hoist shall meet the following standards:

  • (a) the engine shall be installed on a concrete or other rigid foundation;

  • (b) hoisting drums on which the rope is coiled shall be provided with flanges or horns and, where a hoisting drum is conical, with such other safety devices as will prevent the rope from slipping;

  • (c) the hoist shall be equipped with a device that

    • (i) clearly indicates to the hoist operator the location of the cage or trip, and

    • (ii) where a trip may be used on more than one track, is of a type that indicates on which track the trip is being hoisted;

  • (d) the hoist shall be equipped with a braking system that

    • (i) stops cages or trips within the deceleration rates set out in the procedures referred to in subsection 59(1) for both the descending and ascending modes,

    • (ii) is automatically applied in the event of a power failure, and

    • (iii) may be applied by the hoist operator in the event of an emergency;

  • (e) the hoist shall be equipped with an overwind preventor and a speed controller that shut off the power and apply the braking system when the cage or trip travels

    • (i) beyond the top or bottom of the run, or

    • (ii) at a speed in excess of the maximum speed for the cage or trip set out in the procedures referred to in subsection 59(1);

  • (f) unless the overwind preventor and speed controller referred to in paragraph (e) are in full and fixed engagement with the hoisting engine, the overwind preventor and speed controller shall be

    • (i) designed to be fully engaged automatically or by the hoist operator whenever persons are to be transported, and

    • (ii) provided with an automatic device that indicates to the hoist operator and all persons responsible for the loading of the cage or trip that the overwind preventor and speed controller have been fully engaged; and

  • (g) where used for transporting persons, the hoist shall be equipped with at least two brakes that meet the requirements of subparagraphs (d)(i) to (iii).

• (2) Every device referred to in paragraph (1)(c) shall be tested for effective functioning after every adjustment to the length of the hoist rope.

Surface Hoist Tests and Inspections

• 66 (1) During each shift, a hoist operator shall test the surface hoist, including the safety devices connected to it.

• (2) Where tests are performed in accordance with subsection (1), the hoist operator shall test

  • (a) the overwind preventor to verify that the cage or trip does not travel more than 0.6 m past the top or the bottom of the run; and

  • (b) the speed controller with the cage midway in the shaft or with the trip part of the way along the run.

• (3) Subject to subsection (4), where a surface hoist has not been operated for more than four hours, before persons are transported on that hoist, a trial wind shall be carried out over the lesser of

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

  • (b) 400 m.

• (4) Except in the case of an emergency, where a surface hoist has not been operated for any period because of an accident or defect, a full trial wind shall be carried out before lowering or hoisting is resumed.

• (5) A qualified person shall test

  • (a) at least once every 24 hours, the overwind preventor, speed controller and other safety devices of a surface hoist that is used only for transporting persons;

  • (b) at least once every week, the overwind preventor, speed controller and other safety devices of a surface hoist that is used for hoisting materials; and

  • (c) at least once every month, the braking system of every surface hoist, including the emergency brake, overwind preventor, speed controller, other safety devices and the devices referred to in paragraph 65(1)(c) and subparagraph 65(1)(f)(ii).

• (6) The hoist operator or qualified person who carries out the tests referred to in subsections (1) to (5) shall make a record of those tests in a book kept for that purpose.

67 At least once every 24 hours, a mine mechanic shall

• (a) inspect the external parts of all surface hoists, including cages, mine cars, tackling equipment, head gear, ropes, sockets, rope paths and couplings, that are in use in the coal mine; and

• (b) make a record of the inspection referred to in paragraph (a) in a book kept for that purpose.

Hoist Rope Standards and Tests

68 Every hoist rope shall be made of steel and have a factor of safety of not less than six.

• 69 (1) No hoist rope shall be placed in service unless it has been tested for breaking strength by a rope-testing laboratory.

• (2) The employer shall keep, for every hoist rope, every test certificate issued in respect of the rope by a rope-testing laboratory and a certificate from the manufacturer of the rope.

• (3) The certificates referred to in subsection (2) shall contain the following information in respect of the hoist rope:

  • (a) the name and address of the manufacturer;

  • (b) the manufacturer’s rope number;

  • (c) the date of manufacture;

  • (d) the diameter, expressed in millimetres;

  • (e) the mass per unit length, expressed in kilograms per metre;

  • (f) the number of strands;

  • (g) the class of core;

  • (h) the percentage by mass of lubricant in the core;

  • (i) the trade name of the interior rope lubricant;

  • (j) the number of wires in a strand;

  • (k) the diameter of the wires, expressed in millimetres;

  • (l) the breaking strength of steel from which the wire is made, expressed in kilopascals;

  • (m) the results of the standard torsion test of the wires;

  • (n) the actual breaking strength; and

  • (o) the extension of a test piece when tested to destruction.

• (4) For every hoist rope, the following information shall be recorded in a record book:

  • (a) the name of the company from which the rope was purchased;

  • (b) the date of purchase;

  • (c) the manufacturer’s rope number;

  • (d) the date on which the rope is installed in or removed from a particular location;

  • (e) the location referred to in paragraph (d);

  • (f) the mass of the cage or mine car in respect of which the rope is installed;

  • (g) the maximum load for which the rope is designed;

  • (h) the maximum length of rope in service below the sheave;

  • (i) the maximum mass of rope in service below the sheave;

  • (j) the factor of safety of the rope in each location where it is installed;

  • (k) the dates on which rope samples are taken;

  • (l) the dates and results of tests for breaking strength; and

  • (m) where applicable, the date of permanent removal from service and the reasons therefor.

• (5) The employer shall keep the record book referred to in subsection (4) at the coal mine in which the rope is in service

  • (a) during the period in which the rope is in service; and

  • (b) during the five-year period immediately following the day on which the rope is permanently removed from service.

70 No spliced hoist rope, other than an endless hoist rope, shall be used for transporting persons.

• 71 (1) Where a cage or trip is at its lowest point on the run, the drum shall have remaining on it at least five turns of hoist rope.

• (2) The diameter of a hoist rope sheave shall be not less than

  • (a) for a rope 25 mm or more in diameter, 80 times the rope diameter; and

  • (b) for a rope less than 25 mm in diameter, 60 times the rope diameter.

• (3) Every hoist rope sheave shall be machined to fit the rope that is used on it.

72 No direct hoist rope shall be reversed on the drum of a hoist.

• 73 (1) Every hoist rope shall be kept lubricated.

• (2) The lubricant that is used on a hoist rope shall be

  • (a) suitable for the conditions under which the rope is used; and

  • (b) used in accordance with the recommendations of the manufacturer of the rope.

• 74 (1) A rope sample shall be taken at least once every month from every hoist rope in service in a coal mine, except where the rope is used in

  • (a) an endless hoist rope system; or

  • (b) an auxiliary hoist that is used for localized movement of material and for which no rope sample is required by the plans referred to in subsection 52(1).

• (2) The rope sample referred to in subsection (1) shall consist of at least 4 m of hoist rope cut from the end at which the hoist rope is attached to the cage or trip.

• (3) A test piece of the rope sample referred to in subsection (1) shall be

  • (a) cut from the end of the rope sample that was attached to the cage or trip;

  • (b) at least 2 m in length; and

  • (c) tested by a rope-testing laboratory.

• (4) The ends of the rope sample referred to in subsection (1) and of the test piece referred to in subsection (3) shall be bound with soft wire to prevent them from unravelling.

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).