FIRE BOSSES-EMPLOYMENT AND DUTIES. CERTIFICATES NECESSARY TO EMPLOYMENT. See also Inspectors and Inspection, page 135. Mine Foremen-Employment and Duties, page 200. LAWS 1885, P. 205. JUNE 30, 1885. AN ACT relating to bituminous coal mines, and relating to the lives, health, safety and welfare of persons employed therein. NOTE. A part only of sec. 15 is inserted here; a part under the title Miners' Examining Boards, and a part under the title Mine Foreman-Employment and Duties. (See pp. 203, 272.) The body of the act is under the title Mining Operations-Bituminous Coal Mines. (See page 691.) SEC. 15. * * No person shall act as fire boss in any bituminous mine, unless granted a certificate of competency by any of the mine inspectors of the bituminous region of Pennsylvania, and it shall be unlawful for any owner, operator, contractor, superintendent, or agent to employ any person as fire boss who has not obtained such certificate. fire boss After January first, 1886, no owner, operator, contractor, lessee, superintendent or agent, shall employ any * fire boss who does not have the certificate of competency or service required by this section. And if any accident shall occur in any mine in which a shall be employed, who has no certificate of competency or service as required by this section by which any miner shall be killed, or injured, he or his heirs shall have a right of action against such operator, owner, superintendent, contractor, lessee or agent, and shall recover the full value of the damages sustained. LAWS 1891, P. 176. QUALIFICATIONS AND DUTIES. JUNE 2, 1891. AN ACT to provide for the health and safety of persons employed in and about the anthracite coal mines of Pennsylvania and for the protection and preservation of property connected therewith. * NOTE.-Sec. 9 of Article VIII and a copy of Rule 7, Article XII, are inserted here. Sec. 3 is under the title Mine Foremen-Employment and Duties. (See p. 204.) The body of the act is under the title Mining Operations-Anthracite Coal Mines. (See p.635.) SEC. 9. And no person shall be permitted to act as fire boss in any coal mine or colliery, except, he has had five (5) years' practical experience in mines as a miner, three (3) of which he shall have had as a miner (in mines) wherein noxious and explosive gases are evolved, and the said fire boss shall certify to the same before entering upon his duties, before an alderman, justice of the peace or other person authorized to administer oaths, and a copy of said deposition shall be filed with the district inspector of mines wherein said person is employed. ARTICLE XII. GENERAL RULES. The following general rules shall be observed in every mine to which this act applies: * Rule 7. A station or stations shall be established at the entrance to each mine or different parts of each mine, as the case may require, and a workman shall not pass beyond any such station until the mine or part of the mine beyond the same has been inspected and reported to be safe. It shall be the duty of the fire boss to remain at the danger station until relieved by some person authorized by himself or the mine foreman, who shall stand guard until said mine or part of mine shall be reported safe, and he shall not let any person pass without permission from the fire boss. EXAMINATION, EMPLOYMENT, AND DISCHARGE. LAWS 1893. P. 52. MAY 15, 1893. AN ACT relating to bituminous coal mines, and relating to the lives, health, safety and welfare of persons employed therein. NOTE.-Article XVI is inserted here. A copy of Sec. 2 is also under the title Mine Foremen-Employment and Duties. (See p. 218.) The body of the act is under the title Mining Operations--Bituminous Coal Mines. (See p. 697.) ARTICLE XVI. FIRE BOSSES. SEC. 1. No person shall act as fire boss in any bituminous coal mines unless granted a certificate of competency by any one of the several examining boards. All applicants applying to any of the examining boards for fire-boss certificates shall undergo an oral examination in the presence of explosive gas, and such certificate shall only be granted to men of good moral character and of known temperate habits, and it shall be unlawful for any operator or superintendent to employ any person as fire boss who has not obtained such certificate of competency as required by this act. SEC. 2. If the mine foreman or fire boss shall neglect his duties, or has incapacitated himself by drunkenness, or has been incapacitated by any other cause for the proper performance of said duties, and the same shall be brought to the knowledge of the operator or superintendent, it shall be the duty of such operator or superintendent to discharge such delinquent at once and notify the inspector of the district of such action, whereupon it shall be the duty of said inspector to inform the court of common pleas of the county, who shall issue a citation in the name of the Commonwealth to the said operator, superintendent, mine foreman, or fire boss to appear at not less than fifteen days' notice upon a day fixed before said court, at which time the court shall proceed to inquire into and investigate the allegations. If the court finds that the allegations are true it shall notify the examining board of such finding and instruct the said board to withdraw the certificate of such delinquent during any period of time that said court may deem sufficient, and at the expiration of such time he shall be entitled to a reexamination. EMPLOYMENT AND DUTIES. LAWS 1911, P. 756. JUNE 9, 1911. AN ACT to provide for the health and safety of persons employed in and about the bituminous coal mines of Pennsylvania, and for the protection and preservation of property connected therewith. NOTE. Article V of this act is inserted here. Copies of secs. 4, 5, and 7 are under the title Mine Foremen--Employment and Duties. (See p. 226.) The body of the act is under the title Mining Operations-Bituminous Coal Mines. (See p. 740.) ARTICLE V. DUTIES OF FIRE BOSS. SEC. 1. In such portions of a mine wherein explosive gas has been generated within one year before the passage of this act, or shall be generated after the passage of this act, in sufficient quantities to be detected by an improved safety lamp, the mine foreman shall employ a fire boss or fire bosses, whose competency to act as such shall be evidenced by a certificate of qualification from the department of mines on the recommendation of the examining board, as provided for in section six, article twenty-four of this act. It shall be the duty of the fire boss to examine carefully, before each shift enters the mine, every working place, without exception, all places adjacent to live workings, every roadway, and every unfenced road to abandoned workings and falls in the mine; but before proceeding with the examination he shall see that the air current is traveling in its proper course. In making the examination he shall use no light other than that enclosed in an approved safety lamp. The examination shall begin within three hours prior to the appointed time for each shift to enter the mine. The fire boss shall examine for all dangers in all portions of the mine under his charge, and after each examination he shall leave, at the face and side of every place examined, the date of the examination, as evidence that he has performed his duty. He shall also examine the entrance or entrances to all worked-out and abandoned portions adjacent to the roadways and working places under his charge, where explosive gas is likely to accumulate, and he shall place a danger signal across the entrance to every working place and every other place where explosive gas is discovered, or where immediate danger is found to exist from any other cause, and said signal shall be sufficient warning for persons not to enter. The meaning of all danger signals shall be explained to the non-English speaking employees of the mine, in their several languages, by the mine foreman, assistant mine foreman, or fire boss, through an interpreter. SEC. 2. A suitable record book shall be kept at the mine office, on the surface, of every mine wherein fire bosses are employed, and immediately after the examination of such mine or any portion thereof by a fire boss, whose duty it is to make such examination, he shall enter in said book, with ink, a record of such examination, and sign same. This record shall show the time taken in making the examination, and also clearly state the nature and location of any danger that may have been discovered in any, room or entry or other place in the mine, and, if any danger or dangers have been discovered, the fire bosses shall immedi. ately report the location thereof to the mine foreman. No person shall enter the mine until the fire bosses return to the mine office on the surface, or to a station located in the intake entry of the mine (where a record book as provided for in this section shall be kept and signed by the person making the examination), and report to the mine foreman or the assistant mine foreman, by telephone or otherwise, that the mine is in safe condition for the men to enter. When a station is located in any mine it shall be the duty of the fire bosses to sign also the report entered in the record book in the mine office on the surface. The record books of the fire bosses shall at all times during working hours be accessible to the inspector and the employees of the mine. SEC. 3. A second examination by the same or other fire bosses shall be made during working hours of every working place where men are employed. SEC. 4. The mine foreman and the fire boss shall, at or near the main entrance to the mine, provide a permanent station with a proper danger signal, designated by suitable letters and colors placed thereon. In every mine generating explosive gas in quantities sufficient to be detected by an approved safety lamp, when the working portions are one mile or more from the entrance to the mine or from the bottom of the shaft or slope, a permanent station of suitable dimensions may be erected by the mine foreman (provided the location is approved by the inspector) for the use of the fire bosses, and in the said station a fire-proof vault of ample strength shall be erected of brick, stone, or concrete, in which the temporary record book of the fire bosses, as described in section two of this article, shall be kept. It shall not be lawful for any person, except the mine foreman, and in case of necessity such other persons as may be designated by him, to pass beyond said permanent station and danger signal until the mine has been examined by a fire boss, as provided for in section one of this article, and the mine or certain portions thereof reported by him to be safe. The fire boss shall not allow any other person or persons to enter or remain in any portion of the mine through which a dangerous accumulation of gas is being passed in the ventilating current from any other part of the mine. He shall report at once any violation of this article to the mine foreman. NOTE. A copy of this section is under the title, Mine Foreman-Employment and Duties. (See p. 226.) SEC. 5. Any employe or other person, except those hereinbefore provided for, who passes by any danger signal into the mine, or into any portion of the mine, or removes such danger signal before the mine has been examined and reported to be safe, or any employe or any other person who passes by any danger signal placed at the entrance to a working place, or any other place in the mine, or removes such danger signal without permission from the mine foreman, the assistant mine foreman, or the fire boss, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and it shall be the duty of the mine foreman having knowledge of said violation (whether obtained personally or otherwise) to notify the inspector at once, in writing; and the inspector shall forthwith enter proceedings against such persons, as provided for in section two of article twenty-six of this act. Any mine foreman who fails to notify the inspector forthwith of any violation of the provisions of this article that has been reported to him or has come under his personal observation shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. SEC. 6. Any fire boss who neglects to comply fully with the provisions of this article relating to his duties, or who shall make a false report of the condition of any place in the portion of the mine allotted to him for examination, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be suspended by the mine foreman, and his name shall be given to the inspector for prosecution. If he is found guilty, he shall return his certificate of qualification as fire boss to the department of mines: Provided, however, That he may again be an applicant for a certificate as fire boss at any regular examination, after the expiration of six months; but if he is found guilty of a second offense he shall return his certificate to the department of mines, and can not be an applicant for reexamination. SEC. 7. Nothing in this article shall prevent a first-grade mine foreman or a first-grade assistant mine foreman from acting as fire boss, or a regularly employed fire boss from acting in an emergency as a first-grade assistant mine foreman. NOTE. A copy of sec. 6 only of this amendatory act is inserted here. The body of the act is under the titles Mine foremen-Employment and duties, and Mining operationsAnthracite mines. (See pp. 233, 653.) SEC. 1. Be it enacted, etc.: That * * section 8 of Article XVII of an act entiteld "An act to provide for the health and safety of persons employed in and about the anthracite coal mines of Pennsylvania, and for the protection and preservation of property connected therewith," approved June 2, 1891, as said act now stands as heretofore amended by acts of assembly approved April 20, 1899 (P. L. 65), June 8, 1901 (P. L. 535), May 13, 1903 (P. L. 359), May 3, 1905 (P. L. 363), May 3, 1909 (P. L. 420), May 5, 1911 (P. L. 120), be, and the same are hereby, amended to read as follows: SEC. 6. That section 8 of Article XVII of said act, which reads as follows: (here follows sec. 8 of Article XVII of the act of June 2, 1891, see p. 651), be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows: SEC. 8. The mine foreman, assistant mine foreman, fire boss, and any person placed in charge of the works, or any part thereof, shall be the agent of the owners and operators, and such owners and operators shall employ them and discharge them at will. EMPLOYMENT AND DUTIES. LAWS 1915, P. 716. JUNE 1, 1915. AN ACT to amend section 1 of Article IV, section 1 of Article V, and section 9 of Article XXIV, of an act entitled "An act to provide for the health and safety of persons employed in and about the bituminous coal mines of Pennsylvania, and for the protection and preservation of property connected therewith," approved June 9, 1911; permitting operators, managers, and superintendents free selection of mine foremen, assistant mine foremen, and fire bosses; and placing mine employees under the supervision and control of the operator. NOTE-The section amending sec. 1 of Article V only is inserted here. The sections amending Articles IV and XXIV are under the title Mine foremen-Employment and duties (bituminous mines). (See pp. 225, 231.) SEC. 3. That section one of Article V of said act, which reads as follows: (here follows sec. 1, of Article V, of the act of June 9, 1911, see p. 58), be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows: SEC. 1. In such portions of a mine wherein explosive gas has been generated within one year before the passage of this act, or shall be generated after the passage of this act, in sufficient quantities to be detected by an approved safety lamp, the mine foreman shall employ a fire boss or fire bosses, whose competency to act as such shall be evidenced by a certificate of qualification from the department of mines on the recommendation of the examining board, as provided for in section six, Article XXIV, of this act; or a person or persons who, in the judgment of the operator, is equally competent with the holders of such certificates. It shall be the duty of the fire boss to examine carefully before each shift enters the mine every working place without exception, all places adjacent to live workings, every roadway, and every unfenced road to abandoned workings and falls in the mines; but before proceeding with the examination he shall see that the air current is traveling in its proper course. In making the examination he shall use no light other than that enclosed in an approved safety |