§ 11-7-314 - Use of water on cutter bars and jackhammers required.
11-7-314. Use of water on cutter bars and jackhammers required.
(a) In order to promote safety in coal mines by eliminating the hazards of coal and rock dust in coal mines, it is made the duty of every person, partnership, association, corporation, owner, operator, or lessee of any coal mine in this state to employ and use water on the cutter bars of all mining machines while cutting rock or coal in the mines and on all jackhammer drills while drilling in the mines in either coal or rock.
(b) Any person, partnership, association, corporation, owner, operator, or lessee of any coal mine in this state who shall violate the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined in any sum not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500). Each separate instance of the violation of this section, either by the cutting machines or the jackhammers, shall be deemed a separate offense.
(c) It is also made unlawful for any person, miner, operator of a jackhammer drill, or machine runner to operate either a mining machine without water on the cutter bar or a jackhammer drill contrary to the provisions of this section. Any person so doing shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined in any sum not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100). Each separate operation shall constitute a separate offense.