An issue was discovered with the primary starter mechanism of the SCSRs on February 17 during a routine quality control test. The company immediately alerted the US Mine Safety and Health Administration as well as the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety and stopped manufacture.
The recall affects only those SR-100s with the lot serial numbers A174164-A180052, less than 1% of a total production lot of 4107. The units were sold to operations in Alabama, Colorado, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
"CSE has a rigorous and thorough continuous testing process and is committed to the safety of all miners using its products," chief executive officer Scott Shearer said.
He noted that an action plan for review and approval by MSHA and NIOSH was submitted on February 23. Once that documentation is approved by both agencies, production will resume.
Once the green light is received, CSE staff will visit the affected mines to personally replace the units and provide additional training support and outreach.
CSE said that if any units were found to have a non-functioning starter mechanism, the user should locate another rescuer if possible. If no others are available, the SR-100 user manual details the process to start the SCSR manually; those training materials are included in required quarterly miner training.
MSHA issued a safety alert Friday on the situation, when it outlined how to verify a non-functioning unit as well as how to manually start a rescuer.
“The user can easily confirm that the oxygen starter system has released oxygen into the breathing bag by two observations,” the agency said.
“Once the oxygen actuator has been pulled, the user will hear a faint hiss of the oxygen being released from the bottle into the unit for a few seconds. [A] second and more noticeable indication: the user will see the breathing bag fill as long as the mouthpiece plug is still inserted into the mouthpiece.”
In the event the compressed oxygen starter does not activate, or if the oxygen escapes through the mouthpiece because the plug is out of the mouthpiece during activation, the user should proceed with a manual restart as outlined below.
1. Remove the mouthpiece from your mouth. The nose piece should remain attached to the nose.
2. Inhale ambient air through the mouth.
3. Exhale into the mouthpiece to begin inflating the breathing bag.
4. Repeat this process three to six times until the breathing bag is full.
5. Continue with the 3+3 Donning Procedure.
6. Begin the egress by moving at a moderate work rate, allowing the breathing bag to inflate with the excess oxygen.
Once the bag is full, you can then increase your egress to a more normal rate.
CSE asked that anyone with questions about the recall or mines that believe they are in possession of a recalled unit to call its toll-free number, 1-800-245-2224.
