Law
BY MICHAEL T. HEENAN
Controlling ground
Amine might operate for years without being cited by the Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) for unsafe ground.
Often operators are mystified as to why
they are being cited. They know their
ground and they have been successful
at operating without incident, so why
is this inspector saying the highwall is
unsafe?
Sometimes little things kick off a
round of MSHA enforcement. Violate
one rule and MSHA may start to question everything about your ground.
Here is a reminder list of enforcement
triggers. Stay up to date on these regu-
latory requirements, and you may save
yourself problems with MSHA and
improve safety.
; Top of the wall: The concern is
people may approach lower portions
of the wall in equipment or on foot
and be threatened by loose material up
above. Regulations are specific: Loose
material must be stripped back at least
10 ft. from the top of any wall. But
what is loose material? The uppermost
portions of many older walls may have
vegetation, even trees at the very edge
of the wall. The regulations also say:
Other conditions at or near the perimeter of the pit or quarry wall that create
Stay up to date on these regula-
tory requirements, and you may
save yourself problems with MSHA
and improve safety.
Legal tip
a fall-of-material hazard shall be corrected.
Whether vegetation helps or hurts
upper-wall stability is a matter of judgment. Inspectors look for cracks that
may be caused by roots. They look for
rocks in between vegetation that might
not be secure in heavy rain or other
