[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 30, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2006]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 30CFR77]

[Page 636-638]
 
                       TITLE 30--MINERAL RESOURCES
 
  CHAPTER I--MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
 
PART 77_MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS, SURFACE COAL MINES AND SURFACE WORK 
AREAS OF UNDERGROUND COAL MINES--Table of Contents
 
              Subpart E_Safeguards for Mechanical Equipment
 
Sec.  77.403-1  Mobile equipment; rollover protective structures (ROPS).

    (a) All rubber-tired or crawler-mounted self-propelled scrapers, 
front-end loaders, dozers, graders, loaders, and tractors, with or 
without attachments, that are used in surface coal mines or the surface 
work areas of underground coal mines shall be provided with rollover 
protective structures (hereinafter referred to as ROPS) in accordance 
with the requirements of paragraphs (b) through (f) of this section, as 
applicable.
    (b) Mobile equipment manufactured on and after September 1, 1974. 
All mobile equipment described in paragraph (a) of this section 
manufactured on and after September 1, 1974 shall be equipped with ROPS 
meeting the requirements of the Department of Labor specified in 
Sec. Sec.  1926.1001 and 1926.1002 of Part 1926, Title 29, Code of 
Federal Regulations--Safety and Health Regulations for Construction.
    (c) Mobile equipment manufactured prior to September 1, 1974. All 
mobile equipment described in paragraph (a) of this section manufactured 
prior to September 1, 1974 shall be equipped with ROPS meeting the 
requirements of paragraphs (d) through (f) of this section, as 
appropriate, no later than the dates specified in paragraphs (1), (2), 
and (3) of this paragraph (c), unless an earlier date is required by an 
authorized representative of the Secretary under paragraph (c)(4) of 
this section:
    (1) Mobile equipment manufactured between July 1, 1971, and 
September 1, 1974, shall be equipped with ROPS no later than March 1, 
1975.
    (2) Mobile equipment manufactured between July 1, 1970, and June 30, 
1971, shall be equipped with ROPS no later than July 1, 1975.
    (3) Mobile equipment manufactured between July 1, 1969, and June 30, 
1970, shall be equipped with ROPS no later than January 1, 1976.
    (4) Irrespective of the time periods specified in paragraph (c) (1) 
through (3) of this section an authorized representative of the 
Secretary may require such mobile equipment to be equipped with ROPS at 
an earlier date when necessary to protect the operator of the equipment 
under the conditions in which the mobile equipment is, or will be 
operated. The authorized representative of the Secretary shall in 
writing advise the operator that the equipment shall be equipped with a 
ROPS and shall fix a time within which the operator shall provide and 
install the ROPS. If such ROPS is not provided and installed within the 
time fixed a notice shall be issued to the operator pursuant to section 
104 of the Act.
    (5) Nothing in this Sec.  77.403-1 shall preclude the issuance of a 
withdrawal order because of imminent danger.
    (d) Except as provided in paragraph (e) of this section, mobile 
equipment described in paragraph (a) of this section, manufactured prior 
to September 1, 1974, shall be deemed in compliance with this section if 
the ROPS is installed in accordance with the recommendations of the ROPS 
manufacturer or designer. The coal mine operator shall exhibit 
certification from the ROPS manufacturer or designer in the form of a 
label attached to the equipment, indicating the manufacturer's or 
fabricator's name and address, the ROPS model number, if any, the 
machine make, model or series number that the structure is designed to 
fit, and compliance with the applicable specification listed in 
paragraph (c)(1) or (2) of this section, or he shall, upon request of 
the authorized representative of the Secretary, furnish certification 
from a registered professional engineer that:
    (1) The ROPS complies with the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) 
Standard J 397, ``Critical Zone--Characteristics and Dimensions for 
Operators of Construction and Industrial Machinery'' or SAE J 397a, 
``Deflection Limiting Volume for Laboratory Evaluation of Rollover 
Protective Structures (ROPS) and Falling Object Protective Structures 
(FOPS) of Construction and Industrial Vehicles'' and the following 
applicable SAE Standards:

[[Page 637]]

    (i) J 320a, ``Minimum Performance Criteria for Rollover Protective 
Structure for Rubber-Tired Self-Propelled Scrapers'' or J 320b, 
``Minimum Performance Criteria for Rollover Protective Structures for 
Prime Movers''; or
    (ii) J 394, ``Minimum Performance Criteria for Rollover Protective 
Structure for Rubber-Tired Front-End Loaders and Rubber-Tired Dozers'' 
or J 394a, ``Minimum Performance Criteria for Rollover Protective 
Structures for Wheeled Front-End Loaders and Wheeled Dozers''; or
    (iii) J 395, ``Minimum Performance Criteria for Rollover Protective 
Structure for Crawler Tractors and Crawler-Type Loaders'' or J 395a, 
``Minimum Performance Criteria for Rollover Protective Structures for 
Track-Type Tractors and Track-Type Front-End Loaders''; or
    (iv) J 396 or J 396a, ``Minimum Performance Criteria for Rollover 
Protective Structures for Motor Graders''; or
    (v) J 167, ``Protective Frame with Overhead Protection--Test 
Procedures and Performance Requirements''; or
    (vi) J 334a, ``Protective Frame Test Procedures and Performance 
Requirements''; or
    (2) The ROPS and supporting attachments will:
    (i) Show satisfactory performance by actual test of a prototype 
involving a roll of 720[deg] or more; or
    (ii) Support not less than the weight of the vehicle applied as a 
uniformly distributed horizontal load at the top of the structure and 
perpendicular to a vertical plane through the longitudinal axis of the 
prime mover, and support two times the weight of the vehicle applied as 
a uniformly distributed vertical load to the top of the structure; \1\ 
or
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 1Paragraph (d) of Sec.  77.403-1 is based on the ROPS criteria 
of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Safety--General Safety Requirements 
EM 385-1-1, Change 1, No. 21, Para. 18.A.20 (March 27, 1972), except 
that subparagraph (2)(ii) of this paragraph (d) is substituted for Para. 
18.A.20e(2) of the Corps requirements.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (iii) Support the following separately applied minimum loads:
    (A) 125 percent of the weight of the vehicle applied as a uniformly 
distributed horizontal load at the top of the ROPS and perpendicular to 
a critical plane through the longitudinal axis of the prime mover; and
    (B) A load of twice the weight of the vehicle applied as a uniformly 
distributed vertical load to the top of the ROPS after complying with 
paragraph (d) (1) (iii) (A) of this section. Stresses shall not exceed 
the ultimate strength. Steel used in the ROPS must have capability to 
perform at 0 [deg]F., or exhibit Charpy V-notch impact strength at 8 
ft.-lb. at -20 [deg]F. with a standard Charpy V-notch Type A specimen 
and provide 20 percent elongation over two inches in a standard two inch 
gauge length on a 0.505 inch diameter tensile specimen. Bolts and nuts 
shall be SAE grade 8 (reference SAE J 429d, J 429e, J 429f or J 429g and 
J 995, J 995a or J 995b).
    (e) Mobile equipment manufactured prior to September 1, 1974 meeting 
certain existing governmental requirements for ROPS. Mobile equipment 
described in paragraph (a) of this section, manufactured prior to 
September 1, 1974 and already equipped with ROPS, shall be deemed in 
compliance with this section if it meets the ROPS requirements of the 
State of California, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of 
Reclamation of the U.S. Department of the Interior in effect on April 5, 
1972, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. 
Department of Labor. The requirements in effect are:
    (1) State of California: Construction Safety Orders 1591(i), 1596, 
and Logging and Sawmill Safety Order 5243, issued by the Department of 
Industrial Relations pursuant to Division 5, Labor Code Sec.  6312, 
State of California;
    (2) U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Safety--General Safety 
Requirements, EM-385-1-1 (March 1967);
    (3) Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior: Safety 
and Health Regulations for Construction, Part II (September 1971); and
    (4) Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department 
of Labor: Safety and Health Regulations for Construction, 29 CFR 
1926.1001 and 1926.1002.
    (f) Field welding on ROPS shall be performed by welders who are 
certified by the coal mine operator or equipment distributor as being 
qualified in

[[Page 638]]

accordance with the American Welding Society Structural Welding Code AWS 
D1.1-73, or Military Standard MIL-STD 248, or the equivalent thereof.
    (g) Seat belts required by Sec.  77.1710(i) shall be worn by the 
operator of mobile equipment required to be equipped with ROPS by Sec.  
77.403-1.

(Sec. 101(a), Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, as 
amended (83 Stat. 745; 30 U.S.C. 811(a))

[39 FR 24007, June 28, 1974. Redesignated and amended at 71 FR 16669, 
Apr. 3, 2006]