No employee shall be assigned, or allowed, or be required to perform work alone in any area where hazardous conditions exist that would endanger his safety unless he can communicate with others, can be heard, or can be seen.

(a) Each operator of a surface coal mine shall establish and maintain a communication system from the mine to the nearest point of medical assistance for use in an emergency.

(b) The emergency communication system required to be maintained under paragraph (a) of this section may be established by telephone or radio transmission or by any other means of prompt communication to any facility (for example, the local sheriff, the State highway patrol, or local hospital) which has available the means of communication with the person or persons providing emergency medical assistance or transportation in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section.

(a) Each operator of a surface coal mine shall make arrangements with a licensed physician, medical service, medical clinic, or hospital to provide 24-hour emergency medical assistance for any person injured at the mine.

(b) Each operator shall make arrangements with an ambulance service, or otherwise provide for 24-hour emergency transportation for any person injured at the mine.

(c) Each operator shall, on or before September 30, 1971, report to the Coal Mine Health and Safety District Manager for the district in which the mine is located the name, title and address of the physician, medical service, medical clinic, hospital, or ambulance service with whom arrangements have been made, or otherwise provided, in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section.

(d) Each operator shall, within 10 days after any change of the arrangements required to be reported under the provisions of this section, report such changes to the Coal Mine Health and Safety District Manager. If such changes involve a substitution of persons, the operator shall provide the name, title, and address of the person substituted together with the name and address of the medical service, medical clinic, hospital, or ambulance service with which such person or persons are associated.

(e) Each operator shall, immediately after making an arrangement required under the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, or immediately after any change, of such agreement, post at appropriate places at the mine the names, titles, addresses, and telephone numbers of all persons or services currently available under such arrangements to provide medical assistance and transportation at the mine.

The mine operator shall conduct first-aid training courses for selected supervisory employees at the mine. Within 60 days after the selection of a new supervisory employee to be so trained, the mine operator shall certify by signature and date the name of the employee and date on which the employee satisfactorily completed the first-aid training course. The certification shall be kept at the mine and made available on request to an authorized representative of the Secretary.

On or before December 30, 1971, each operator of a surface coal mine shall make available to all miners employed in the mine a course of instruction in first aid conducted by the operator or under the auspices of the operator, and such a course of instruction shall be made available to newly employed miners within 6 months after the date of employment.

Beginning January 1, 1972, each operator of a surface coal mine shall conduct refresher first aid training programs each calendar year for all selected supervisory employees and make available refresher first aid training courses to all miners employed in the mine.

(a) All first aid training programs required under the provisions of §§ 77.1703 and 77.1704 shall include 10 class hours of training in a course of instruction similar to that outlined in “First Aid, A Bureau of Mines Instruction Manual.”

(b) Refresher first aid training programs required under the provisions of § 77.1705 shall include 5 class hours of refresher training in a course of instruction similar to that outlined in “First Aid, A Bureau of Mines Instruction Manual.”

(a) Each operator of a surface coal mine shall maintain a supply of the first aid equipment set forth in paragraph (b) of this section at or near each working place where coal is being mined, at each preparation plant and at shops and other surface installation where ten or more persons are regularly employed.

(b) The first aid equipment required to be maintained under the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section shall include at least the following:

(1) One stretcher;

(2) One broken-back board (if a splint-stretcher combination is used it will satisfy the requirements of both paragraph (b) (1) of this section and this paragraph (b) (2));

(3) Twenty-four triangular bandages (15 if a splint-stretcher combination is used);

(4) Eight 4-inch bandage compresses;

(5) Eight 2-inch bandage compresses;

(6) Twelve 1-inch adhesive compresses;

(7) An approved burn remedy;

(8) Two cloth blankets;

(9) One rubber blanket or equivalent substitute;

(10) Two tourniquets;

(11) One 1-ounce bottle of aromatic spirits of ammonia or 1 dozen ammonia ampules; and,

(12) The necessary complements of arm and leg splints or two each inflatable plastic arm and leg splints.

(c) All first aid supplies required to be maintained under the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section shall be stored in suitable, sanitary, dust tight, moisture proof containers and such supplies shall be accessible to the miners.

On or before September 30, 1971, each operator of a surface coal mine shall establish and maintain a program of instruction with respect to the safety regulations and procedures to be followed at the mine and shall publish and distribute to each employee, and post in conspicuous places throughout the mine, all such safety regulations and procedures established in accordance with the provisions of this section.

Each employee working in a surface coal mine or in the surface work areas of an underground coal mine shall be required to wear protective clothing and devices as indicated below:

(a) Protective clothing or equipment and face-shields or goggles shall be worn when welding, cutting, or working with molten metal or when other hazards to the eyes exist.

(b) Suitable protective clothing to cover the entire body when handling corrosive or toxic substances or other materials which might cause injury to the skin.

(c) Protective gloves when handling materials or performing work which might cause injury to the hands; however, gloves shall not be worn where they would create a greater hazard by becoming entangled in the moving parts of equipment.

(d) A suitable hard hat or hard cap when in or around a mine or plant where falling objects may create a hazard. If a hard hat or hard cap is painted, nonmetallic based paint shall be used.

(e) Suitable protective footwear.

(f) Snug-fitting clothing when working around moving machinery or equipment.

(g) Safety belts and lines where there is danger of falling; a second person shall tend the lifeline when bins, tanks, or other dangerous areas are entered.

(h) Lifejackets or belts where there is danger from falling into water.

(i) Seatbelts in a vehicle where there is a danger of overturning and where roll protection is provided.

Hard hats or hard caps distinctively different in color from those worn by experienced miners shall be worn at all times by each newly employed, inexperienced miner when working in or around a mine or plant for at least one year from the date of his initial employment as a miner or until he has been qualified or certified as a miner by the State in which he is employed.

No person shall smoke or use an open flame where such practice may cause a fire or explosion.

Prior to reopening any surface coal mine after it has been abandoned or declared inactive by the operator, the operator shall notify the Coal Mine Health and Safety District Manager for the district in which the mine is located, and an inspection of the entire mine shall be completed by an authorized representative of the Secretary before any mining operations in such mine are instituted.

(a) At least once during each working shift, or more often if necessary for safety, each active working area and each active surface installation shall be examined by a certified person designated by the operator to conduct such examinations for hazardous conditions and any hazardous conditions noted during such examinations shall be reported to the operator and shall be corrected by the operator.

(b) If any hazardous condition noted during an examination conducted in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section creates an imminent danger, the person conducting such examination shall notify the operator and the operator shall withdraw all persons from the area affected, except those persons referred to in section 104(d) of the Act, until the danger is abated.

(c) After each examination conducted in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section, each certified person who conducted all or any part of the examination required shall enter with ink or indelible pencil in a book approved by the Secretary the date and a report of the condition of the mine or any area of the mine which he has inspected together with a report of the nature and location of any hazardous condition found to be present at the mine. The book in which such entries are made shall be kept in an area at the mine designated by the operator to minimize the danger of destruction by fire or other hazard.

(d) All examination reports recorded in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (c) of this section shall include a report of the action taken to abate hazardous conditions and shall be signed or countersigned each day by at least one of the following persons:

(1) The surface mine foreman;

(2) The assistant superintendent of the mine;

(3) The superintendent of the mine;

(4) The person designated by the operator as responsible for health and safety at the mine; or,

(5) An equivalent mine official.