KRS 352.430: Inspection and closing of mines by department -- Hearings.

(1) The operator, superintendent, or mine manager of every mine shall furnish the mine

inspector proper facilities for entering the mine and making examinations or

obtaining information.

(2) If any inspector discovers that any mine does not conform to the prov isions of KRS

Chapter 351 and this chapter in respect to the safety of employees, or that by reason

of any defect or practice not specifically covered by these chapters in or about the

mine, the lives or health of persons employed therein are endangered, h e shall

immediately issue an emergency order to the licensee or superintendent. If he deems

it necessary for the immediate protection from imminent danger of bodily harm of

the persons employed in the mine, he shall withdraw the men who may be

endangered according to the following procedures:

(a) If the entire mine is affected by the dangerous condition, all men shall be

withdrawn and production shall be halted until all defects causing the

imminently dangerous condition are corrected;

(b) If an imminent da nger affects only a portion of the mine, the persons whose

safety may be menaced thereby shall be withdrawn from the affected part of

the mine and production halted in that area until the dangerous condition is

corrected;

(c) Where production is necessary to correct the unsafe condition, it shall be

permitted to that extent, using only the necessary personnel; and

(d) Production at the affected area of a mine from which men are withdrawn

pursuant to this section may be resumed upon reinspection by a mine

inspector and a finding by that inspector that the mine is no longer imminently

unsafe.

(3) In all emergency hearings, a departmental attorney, the Attorney General, the

Commonwealth's attorney, or the county attorney of the judicial circuit or county in

which the mine is situated shall appear for the Commonwealth and defend the

action.