351.193 Safety rights of miners -- Settlement of disputes. No miner shall be required to operate any equipment or work in any condition which he reasonably believes to be unsafe. If the miner invokes his or her safety rights under this section, the miner shall have the right to be relieved from the assignment in dispute. The employee may be assigned to correct the condition or may be assigned to other duties until such time as the condition is resolved or corrected. No other miner shall be assigned to perform this job until the condition is corrected. The miner or his authorized representative and the company shall review the condition immediately and attempt to resolve the dispute. Should the miner not have an authorized representative, he may represent himself in the dispute. If the dispute is not settled by the company and the miner or his or her authorized representative, either party reserves the right to call in the commissioner or his authorized representative immediately and the dispute shall be settled on the basis of the inspector's finding with a written copy of his finding given to the company and the miner and his authorized representative. In the event no representative of the miner exists, the employee shall have the right to have the dispute resolved based on the inspector's findings. No disciplinary action shall be taken against a miner by a licensee unless the miner is found by the commissioner or his authorized representative to have acted in bad faith and without good cause in making an allegation as to unsafe equipment or working conditions. Effective: April 9, 1996 History: Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 308, sec. 17, effective April 9, 1996. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 149, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1994. -- Created 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 370, sec. 2, effective July 15, 1982. Legislative Research Commission Note (4/9/96). The action taken with respect to this statute by 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 308 was to have become effective April 8, 1996, under Section 51 of that Act. The Act, however, did not become effective until April 9, 1996, when the Governor's signed copy of the Act was filed with the Secretary of State.