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Mining & ExplosivesGas tests at every opening before passing it
No place is passed without knowing its air. At every crosscut, intersection or drift turned off the entry, the team tests the gas rib to rib within 25 feet of the opening, holds each detector at the height of its gas and reports every reading to the fresh air base. If the air reaches its explosive range, the fresh air base hears it at once.
Free to startScenarios
- A room turned off the entry: it is checked before the entry beyond it.
- Going back into an area that was cleared with ventilation.
- An explosive mixture found in a mine not classified as gassy.
The steps
- Test the gas at faces, stoppings, doors, regulators, barricades and every place where conditions are unknown.
- At each opening, make separate gas tests across each entry, rib to rib, within 25 feet of the opening and of the rear captain.
- Hold the methane detector overhead, test carbon monoxide at chest height and nitrogen dioxide below the waist.
- Never use a detector beyond its limits or range.
- Check every opening before the No. 5 member passes it.
- Recheck every area cleared of smoke or gas before going back in, rib to rib at all openings on the route.
- Report every reading to the fresh air base, and tell it at once when an air and gas mixture reaches its explosive range.
- If explosive gas shows up and the team has no non-sparking tools, return to the fresh air base immediately and ask the official in charge for them.
Safety rules that stop the station
- Never keep exploring when there is an explosive mixture and evidence of fire (smoke or carbon monoxide) and the fire's location is unknown.
- Never use electric or battery-powered equipment, or a communication device that is not intrinsically safe, in an explosive mixture.
- For gases the team cannot test, ask for stain tubes or the right testers.
To pass
- Each missed gas test or wrong testing procedure costs 1 point per gas.
- Not telling the fresh air base about an explosive mixture costs 10; an ignition source in an explosive mixture endangers the whole team: 75.
- Every opening tested before the team passes it, and every reading reported.
Official source
Federal · MSHA Mine Rescue Contest Rules 2026
2026 Metal and Nonmetal Mine Rescue Contest Rules
MSHA's mine rescue contest rules set where and how to test the gas, at what height, and every discount.
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