{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-351.010","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 351.010","heading":"Definitions for chapter -- Applicability.","body":"(1) As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:\n(a) \"Adulterated specimen\" means a specimen containing a substance that is not a\nnormal constituent or containing an endogenous substance at a concentration\nthat is not a normal physiological concentration;\n(b) \"Approved\" means that a device, apparatus, equipment, or machinery, or\npractice employed in the mining of coal has been approved by the\ncommissioner of the Department for Natural Resources;\n(c) \"Assistant mine foreman\" means a certified person designated to assist the\nmine foreman in the supervision of a portion or the whole of a mine or of the\npersons employed therein;\n(d) \"Commercial mine\" means any coal mine from which coal is mined for sale,\ncommercial use, or exchange. This term shal l in no instance be construed to\ninclude a mine where coal is produced for own use;\n(e) \"Commission\" means the Mine Safety Review Commission created by KRS\n351.1041;\n(f) \"Commissioner\" means commissioner of the Department for Natural\nResources;\n(g) \"Department\" means the Department for Natural Resources;\n(h) \"Drift\" means an opening through strata or coal seams with opening grades\nsufficient to permit coal to be hauled therefrom or which is used for the\npurpose of ventilation, drainage, ingress, egress, and  other purposes in\nconnection with the mining of coal;\n(i) \"Excavations and workings\" means the excavated portions of a mine;\n(j) \"Fire boss\" (often referred to as mine examiner) means a person certified as a\nmine foreman or assistant mine foreman who is designated by management to\nexamine a mine or part of a mine for explosive gas or other dangers before a\nshift crew enters;\n(k) \"Gassy mine.\" All mines shall be classified as gassy or gaseous;\n(l) \"Illicit substances\" includes prescription drugs used illegally or in excess of\ntherapeutic levels as well as illegal drugs;\n(m) \"Intake air\" means air that has not passed through the last w orking place of\nthe split or by the unsealed entrances to abandoned workings and by analysis\ncontains not less than nineteen and one -half percent (19.5%) oxygen, no\ndangerous quantities of flammable gas, and no harmful amounts of poisonous\ngas or dust;\n(n) \"Licensee\" means any owner, operator, lessee, corporation, partnership, or\nother person who procures a license from the department to operate a coal\nmine;\n(o) \"Medical review officer\" or \"MRO\" means a licensed physician with\nknowledge of substance abuse d isorders, laboratory testing, chain of custody,\ncollection procedures, and the ability to verify positive, confirmed test results.\nThe MRO shall possess the necessary medical training to interpret and\nevaluate a positive test result in relation to the pers on's medical history or any\nother relevant biomedical information;\n(p) \"Mine\" means any open pit or any underground workings from which coal is\nproduced for sale, exchange, or commercial use, and all shafts, slopes, drifts,\nor inclines leading thereto, and includes all buildings and equipment, above or\nbelow the surface of the ground, used in connection with the workings.\nWorkings that are adjacent to each other and under the same management, but\nwhich are administered as distinct units, shall be considered a separate mine;\n(q) \"Mine foreman\" means a certified person whom the licensee or superintendent\nplaces in charge of the workings of the mine and of the persons employed\ntherein;\n(r) \"Mine manager\" means a certified or noncertified person whom the license e\nplaces in charge of a mine or mines and whose duties include but are not\nlimited to operations at the mine or mines and supervision of personnel when\nqualified to do so;\n(s) \"Open-pit mine\" shall include open excavations and open -cut workings,\nincluding but not limited to auger operations and highwall mining systems for\nthe extraction of coal. However, excavation of refuse from a coarse coal\nrefuse fill for reprocessing of the refuse, which is permitted and bonded under\nKRS Chapter 350 and is regulated by  the Mine Safety and Health\nAdministration, shall not be required to obtain a license under this chapter;\n(t) \"Operator\" means the licensee, owner, lessee, or other person who operates or\ncontrols a coal mine;\n(u) \"Permissible\" refers to any equipment, dev ice, or explosive that has been\napproved by the United States Bureau of Mines, the Mining Enforcement and\nSafety Administration, or the Mine Safety and Health Administration and that\nmeets all requirements, restrictions, exceptions, limitations, and condit ions\nattached to the classification by the approving agency;\n(v) \"Preshift examination\" means the examination of a mine or any portion\nthereof where miners are scheduled to work or travel, which shall be\nconducted not more than three (3) hours before any oncoming shift;\n(w) \"Return air\" means air that has passed through the last active working place\non each split, or air that has passed through abandoned, inaccessible, or\npillared workings;\n(x) \"Serious physical injury\" means an injury which has a reasonabl e potential to\ncause death;\n(y) \"Shaft\" means a vertical opening through the strata that is used in connection\nwith the mining of coal, for the purpose of ventilation or drainage, or for\nhoisting men, coal, or materials;\n(z) \"Slope\" means an inclined opening used for the same purpose as a shaft;\n(aa) \"Superintendent\" means the person who, on behalf of the licensee, has\nimmediate supervision of one (1) or more mines;\n(ab) \"Supervisory personnel\" means a person certified under the provisions of this\nchapter to assist in the supervision of a portion or the whole of the mine or of\nthe persons employed therein;\n(ac) \"Division\" means the Division of Mine Safety;\n(ad) \"Director\" means the director of the Division of Mine Safety;\n(ae) \"Probation\" means the status of  a certification or license issued by the\nDivision of Mine Safety that conditions the validity of the certification or\nlicense upon compliance with orders of the Mine Safety Review Commission;\n(af) \"Final order of the commission\" means an order which has n ot been appealed\nto the Franklin Circuit Court within thirty (30) days of entry, or an order\naffirming the commission's order that has been entered by any court within\nthe Commonwealth and for which all appeals have been exhausted;\n(ag) \"Emergency medical technician\" has the same meaning as in KRS 311A.010;\nand\n(ah) \"Mine emergency technician\" means a person that holds a current surface or\nunderground miner's certification in the Commonwealth and that has been\ncertified as having met all the requirements pr escribed by the Division of\nMine Safety for that certification.\n(2) Except as the context otherwise requires, this chapter applies only to commercial\ncoal mines.\n(3) The definitions in KRS 352.010 apply also to this chapter, unless the context\nrequires otherwise.","path":["KRS Chapter 351"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56259","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:58:36Z","sha256":"fefd76437356a4878c62b72b40719299d8d5522ed88328dab69bd71b414a7483","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-350.990","next":"us-ky/krs-351.020"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}