The Mine Act requires that when inspection of a mine is conducted by more than one inspector, one miners' representative may accompany each inspector without loss of pay. In one case, several inspectors arrived at a coal mine to conduct a regular inspection mandated by section 103 (a) of the Mine Act. During the course of the inspections each inspection team operated separate and apart (electrical inspection, roof inspection, inspections of separate entries), with no overlapping responsibilities or duplication of inspection efforts, but all inspections occurred within the same mining unit. A miners' representative accompanied each inspection team, but the mine company refused to pay more than one miners' representative. The commission found that it was of no consequence that the inspection functions occurred in separate sections of the same underground mining units. So long as those inspections were "separate and distinct," one miners' representative was entitled to accompany each inspector without loss of pay. Thus, if the five inspectors stay together throughout the inspection, only one miners' representative should be entitled to accompany the inspectors without loss of pay.
展开▼
