Program Policy Manual - VOLUME V - Mine Safety and Health ...

MSHA PROGRAM POLICY MANUAL VOLUME V
Exceptions to main haulage roads are sidetracks or branch lines of
limited distance which are not ordinarily used for through traffic.
Sidetracks, branch lines, etc., may or may not extend from any main
haulage road. Therefore, a main haulage road, as referred to in
paragraph (b), is a roadway used for the transportation of
personnel, equipment, materials, supplies and/or other articles
taken into or out of a coal mine, or section of a coal mine,
regardless of alternate methods used to transport coal from the
working faces and regardless of the size of the mine. Any branch
track leading to a nearby installation (pump, compressor, etc.),
crosscut, or pillar place is considered as an exception to main
haulage roads.
Sprinkling a shuttle car haulage road to allay dust shall not be
construed as making the roadway wet and increasing the difficulty
of controlling the shuttle car.
Abrupt changes in vertical clearance that present a hazard to
persons riding on mobile equipment should be eliminated where
possible. Otherwise, signs, preferably luminous, shall be posted
to warn of the change in clearance.
New overcasts and similar structures installed on haulageways
should be constructed so as to provide the same vertical clearance
as the surrounding area or to permit operation of haulage equipment
without restricting the operators' or passengers' normal position.
Material being transported should be so loaded and protected that
there is no danger to the motorman or brakeman from sliding of
equipment and material. Except in emergencies, timbers and other
materials not necessary for, or not incidental to, the operation of
locomotives, cutting machines, loading machines, and coal-drilling
machines should not be transported on such equipment.
Track locomotives should be equipped with proper rerailing devices,
safe seating facilities for the operator, audible warning devices,
sealed-beam headlights or the equivalent on each end, a suitable
lifting jack and bar, and properly installed and maintained sanding
devices.
No person should get on or off moving locomotives or cars being
moved by locomotives; however, the brakeman may get on or off the
rear end of a slowly moving trip.
Standing cars on any track, unless held effectively by brakes,
should be properly blocked or spragged. Cars shall be secured
effectively at working faces.
October 2003 (Release V-34) 128