45.1-161.292:55 - Evaluation of risks at mines - Virginia Statutes

§ 45.1-161.292:55. Evaluation of risks at mines.

A. For the purpose of allocating the resources of the Department to be usedfor conducting additional inspections, the Department shall develop aprocedural policy of scheduling such inspections based on an assessment, tobe made not less frequently than annually, of the comparative risks at eachunderground mineral mine and those surface mineral mines which are notinspected by the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The Department'sprocedural policy shall be prepared with the assistance of working groupsconsisting of persons knowledgeable in mine safety issues. The issuance ofthe procedural policy shall be exempt from Article 2 (§ 2.2-4006 et seq.) ofthe Administrative Process Act. Variables to be included in the riskassessment measures shall include, but not be limited to: (i) fatality andserious accident rates at the mine; (ii) the rates of issuance of closureorders and notices of violations of the mine safety laws of the Commonwealthat the mine; and (iii) the frequency rates for nonserious accidents ornonfatal days lost. Risk assessments shall be developed for both independentcontractors and individual mine sites.

B. The Director shall schedule additional inspections at underground mineralmines, and at surface mineral mines which are not inspected by the MineSafety and Health Administration, based on the rating assigned to a minereflecting the assessment of its risks compared to other such mines in theCommonwealth.

(1997, c. 390; 1998, c. 695.)