Under the outlines of the federal agency’s regulation, individuals entering underground coal mines may only use permissible electric lamps for portable illumination that have been MSHA approved.
“Non-approved cap lamps, including cordless, may look like approved cap lamps, and advertisements may imply that they are approved by MSHA,” officials said in its alert.
“Each cap lamp taken into an underground coal mine must be MSHA approved.”
The responsibility for ensuring all cap lamps going underground are approved lies with the operator, MSHA said. All approved lamp units include a marking that provides the MSHA approval number.
A list of approved equipment is online at http://www.msha.gov/techsupp/acc/lists/lists.htm
