Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 24, June 14, 2024
Section 56-3-12 - Director and Inspectors Authorized to Enter Mines; Duties of Inspectors to Examine Mines; No Advance Notice; Reports After Fatal Accidents12.1. The director or his/her authorized representative shall have authority to visit, enter, and examine any mine, whether underground or surface and may call for the assistance of any mine inspector or inspectors whenever such assistance is necessary in the examination of any mine. The operator of every coal mine shall furnish the director or mine inspector proper facilities for entering such mine and making examination or obtaining information.12.2. If miners at any mine or one of their authorized representatives have reason to believe that dangerous conditions are existing or that the law is not being complied with, they may request the director to have an immediate investigation made.12.3. Mine inspectors shall devote their full time and undivided attention to the performance of their duties, and they shall examine all of the mines in the respective districts and as often, in addition thereto, as the director may direct, or the necessities of the case or the condition of the mine or mines may require, with no advance notice of inspection provided to any person, and they shall make a personal examination of each surface mine operation for the purpose of determining whether a danger, described in W.Va. Code §§ 22A-1-14 and 15 exists in any such mine, or whether any provisions of chapter 22A of the code are being violated or have been violated within the past forty-eight (48) hours in any such mine.12.4. In addition to the other duties imposed by this rule, it shall be the duty of each inspector to note each violation found and issue an order or notice, as appropriate for each violation so noted. During the investigation of any accident, any violation may be noted whether or not the inspector actually observes the violation and whether or not the violation exists at the time the inspector notes the violation, so long as the inspector has clear and convincing evidence the violation has occurred or is occurring.12.5. The mine inspector shall visit the scene of each fatal accident occurring in any mine within his/her district and shall make an examination into the particular facts of such accident; make a report to the director, setting forth the results of such examination, including the condition of the mine and the cause or causes of such fatal accident, if known, and all such reports shall be made available to the interested parties, upon written requests.12.6. At the commencement of any inspection of a coal mine by an authorized representative of the director, the authorized representative of the miners at the mine at the time of such inspection shall be given an opportunity to accompany the authorized representative of the director on such inspection.