Imminent danger orders

Miners or their representatives may appeal the issuance, modification, or termination of any order issued under Section 104 of the Mine Act. They can apply for reinstatement, modification, or vacation of a 107 imminent danger order. They can also challenge the abatement time or modification of a citation. Such appeals must be filed with the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission within 30 days of the MSHA decision/action. Mine operators also have the same right to an appeal. During a commission review, miners are afforded the opportunity to be a party to or to testify in any enforcement action contested by the operator of the mine. Miners also have a right to a copy of MSHA s initial review of a citation or order, to submit additional evidence, and to request and attend a conference to review the citation. 

On January 5,1989, MSHA inspectors from the Morganfield Field Office issued a Section 107(a) imminent danger order along with a Section 104(a) citation for a violation of the approved ventilation plan when 4.8% methane (analysis of bottle. samples revealed 4.11 %) was found in this same general area of the bleeders. 

Specifically, the methane was detected at the junction of the No. 1 Entry of the 8th West Entries and the No. 6 Entry of the 2nd Main North Bleeder Entries. When methane levels were reduced to 2.5%, the Section 107(a) imminent danger order was modified to allow production to resume as long as methane checks were made in the affected area at the designated time intervals (Childers et al., 1990, p. 40). 

After the compliance officer reports the findings, the area director determines which citations warrant formal issuance and which penalties require assessment. An other than serious violation addresses issues that would not normally cause death or serious physical harm. OSHA can issue a serious violation if substantial probability exist that death or serious physical harm could result. The employer knew or should have known situation or hazard. OSHA cites imminent dangerous citations as serious violations. A willful violation refers to a situation that the employer intentionally and knowingly committed. The employer either knows that the operation constitutes a violation or is aware that a hazardous condition existed but made no reasonable effort to eliminate it. A repeat violation can address any standard, regulation, rule, or order where, upon reinspection, another... 

Foam was selected as the drilling fluid for the horizontal section. The necessity to maintain a low bottom hole pressure in order to remain underbalanced, relative to formation pore pressure, along with the imminent danger of lost circulation, made this project an excellent candidate for foam. Minimizing formation damage was of prime concern. 

Internal safety inspections are important features in good safety practice. In daily production tasks, it is not always possible to detect all safety deficiencies. It is also well known that experienced employees can be too familiar with their work to note even imminent dangers. Regular walk-through surveys are therefore required. Safety checks may be conducted weekly, monthly or with some other level of frequency, depending on local risk conditions. It is usually advisable to use a checklist form appropriate to the plant, in order to conduct a systematic consideration of all of the relevant hazards. In the case of advanced safety inspection routines documented and issued using company systems, there is also a communication tool and checkout for the implementation of corrective measures by management. 

In the case of imminent danger, if the Secretary fails to seek a court order after an inspector has concluded that there is imminent danger, and other procedures under the... 

Federal inspectors given authority to issue orders of withdrawal in situations of imminent danger as well as notices of violation... 

Imminent Danger—The A Order The Mine Act provides that if an inspector finds an Imminent Danger in a mine, the inspector shall determine the extent of the area involved. The inspector issues an order to require the mine operator to withdraw everyone who could potentially be affected until the conditions or practices which caused such imminent danger no longer exist. Under the Mine Act, imminent danger means the existence of any condition or practice. .. which could reasonably be expected to cause death or serious physical harm before such condition or practice can be abated.Such orders are sometimes referred to as A orders, referring to section 107(a) of the Mine Act. 

Miners are also given the right to request special studies if they believe a health hazard exists in the workplace. In order to do this, a miner or miner s safety representative can ask for a Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE) from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) (Mine Act, Section 501(a)(ll)). A NIOSH representative will then visit the miner s worksite. The miner s safety representative may accompany the NIOSH inspector during this inspection. NIOSH can issue recommendations on correcting hazards. If NIOSH discovers violations of the standards or an imminent danger, they can inform MSHA so they can take appropriate action. 

There are different types of closure orders. When MSHA inspectors discover a violation so serious that it poses an imminent danger to the miners working in the area of the violation, they are required to close the area of the mine and order the withdrawal of miners from the dangerous area of the mine, or even the whole mine should the violation s threat reach that far. The miners are not required to return to work imtQ the mine operator has corrected the violation and obeyed the law. 

The Mine Act defines several types of imminent danger. If inspectors or representatives of the Secretary of Labor find that an imminent danger exists, they can order forthwith that the mine operator withdraw all persons from the section until the imminent danger no longer exists (Section 104a). MSHA can also order a withdrawal even if there is no immediate danger if mines fail to abate conditions cited in a previous order (Section 104b). ... 

In extreme cases where imminent danger is discovered, the FRA already has the sanctions of Special Notices and Emergency Orders that can be used to limit operations of certain pieces or equipment or sections of track, or can even be used to close down all or part of a railroad. 

The Inspectorate may stipulate die manner in which general provisions and technical regulations of the Working Conditions Act must be complied with in practice and may order the cessation of dangerous activities (right of summary enforcement). Apart from this, employees themselves are also entitled to discontinue an activity in cases of imminent serious danger where it is not possible for ttie Inspectorate to act on the matter in time. In such cases the employee concerned must then infinm the lasrp i tonite of what has happened. 

If a technical supervisor sees danger imminent he is authorized to order immediate measures for the prevention of accidents and is entitled to have work stopped until his orders have been carried out. For contravention of such orders by intention or negligence the board of management of the BGs can impose a fine of up to DM 10 000. 

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