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

MSHA PROGRAM POLICY MANUAL VOLUME V
Subpart Q Loading and Haulage
77.1605 Loading and Haulage Equipment; Installations
Cracks or discolorations in the cab windows that impair or
distort the operator's vision or a crack that will damage the
windshield wiper blade are examples of noncompliance of paragraph
(a). Plexiglass may be used in lieu of safety glass in cab
windows if the transparency is not impaired by scratches or
discoloration.
Paragraph (k) is applicable to all elevated roadways on mine
property, including roads used to transport coal, equipment, or
personnel, and regardless of the size, location, or
characterization of the roadways. Berms or guards are required
on all exposed banks of elevated roadways. Thus, elevated
roadways with two exposed banks are required to have berms or
guards on both sides.
Berms or guardrails are required along the section of an elevated
roadway crossing the crest of an impounding structure when the
structure has been built to its final crest elevation and when
the section of road over the impounding structure is completed.
However, temporary berms or guardrails are not required along the
section of an elevated roadway where it crosses the working
surface of the impounding structure while the site is under
active construction. Placement of such temporary berms or
guardrails can be detrimental to the overall, long-term integrity
of the structure, since the optimum moisture content and the
required compaction parameters would be adversely affected.
On elevated roadways, leading to or constructed on the inclined
surfaces of the impounding structure, berms or guardrails are
required to be maintained as the structure increases in height.
If active construction on an impounding structure is suspended
for any reason, and the roadway has not yet achieved the final
elevation in accordance with the approved construction plan, then
berms or guardrails are required if the site is an elevated
roadway.
The requirements of paragraph (k) apply to that part of an
elevated haulage road where one bank is, or both are, unprotected
by a natural barrier which will prevent vehicles or equipment
from running off and rolling down the unprotected bank(s).
"Elevated roadways," as used in this requirement, are roadways of
sufficient height above the adjacent terrain to create a hazard
in the event that mobile equipment should run off the roadway.
February 2003 (Release V-33) 206