Mine Safety and Health Administration
Protecting Miners' Safety and Health Since 1978
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U.S. Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration Protecting Miners' Safety and Health Since 1978 |
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Last Updated 07/11/2006 Project Partners In 2002, Massey Energy approached MSHA and expressed a desire to work with MSHA to develop a system that could be incorporated on their continuous mining machines to prevent remote control related accidents and improve safety at their operations. MSHA had previously researched available proximity protection systems and, after discussions with Massey, determined that a system manufactured by Nautilus, International was most applicable to continuous mining operations. Since Massey Energy uses Joy continuous miners, Joy was approached and they offered to work with Massey, Nautilus and MSHA to develop a permissible system that could be installed on continuous miners. Massey Energy committed to providing the necessary machines and mine sites to develop and test the proximity protection system. Nautilus International has committed to adapting their existing non-permissible system for continuous miners and to design a permissible system. Joy Mining Machinery has committed to provide the necessary technical assistance to design and install a permissible proximity protection system. MSHA has provided coordination of the project, and also technical assistance in the development of a permissible proximity protection system. MSHA also provides the evaluation of the design of the system to ensure that it complies with the applicable requirements in Title 30 Code of Federal Regulation (30 CFR), Part 18. Nautilus Current Project Status (Updated 7/10/06) A successful field test of the system was completed on April 13, 2006 at Massey Energy’s Spirit Mine near Madison, WV. During the field test, the system provided consistent warning and shutdown commands and effectively prevented an operator wearing the proximity beltpack unit from entering hazardous areas around the machine. A 360 degree protection zone around the entire machine was provided by a single machine mounted magnetic field antenna. Field testing of the system is completed and the system components have been approved by MSHA as complying with the applicable provisions of Title 30 Code of Federal Regulations (30 CFR) Part 18. A Program Informational Bulletin is pending informing the mining industry of the development and availability of this proximity protection system that can be installed on remote control continuous mining machines. Contacts
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Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) 1100 Wilson Boulevard, 21st Floor Arlington, VA 22209-3939 |
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