MSHA Adjusts Approval Requirements for Electric Mine Equipment

A new final rule issued by MSHA incorporates by reference eight voluntary consensus standards that address electric motor-driven mine equipment and accessories used in gassy mining environments. The rule revises MSHA’s regulations on testing, evaluation, and approval specifications and requirements for such equipment. The changes are intended to allow more flexibility for product designers and manufacturers while preserving measures that help protect miners from fire and explosions, which can result from gassy mines’ hazardous atmospheres.

This rulemaking stems from comments MSHA received in 2018 in response to the agency’s request for stakeholders’ assistance in identifying existing regulations that could be repealed, replaced, or modified without reducing miners’ safety or health. Under the new rule, manufacturers and designers have the option to follow the voluntary consensus standards or MSHA’s existing requirements to seek agency approval for equipment.

The eight voluntary consensus standards adopted in the final rule are all approved by the American National Standards Institute and are ANSI 60079 series standards for explosive atmospheres. The standards apply to equipment protection by flameproof enclosures, intrinsic safety, and encapsulation, among other topics.

“MSHA’s acceptance and use of [voluntary consensus standards] will make technologically advanced equipment available for use in U.S. mines more quickly and cost-effectively than is possible under existing MSHA-unique requirements,” according to the notice in the Federal Register.

The new final rule will take effect on Jan. 9, 2025. For further details, see MSHA’s news release.