(225 ILCS 710/33) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4241)
    Sec. 33. Iron-bonneted safety cages. It shall be unlawful for the operator of any mine to permit the hoisting or lowering of people through a vertical shaft deeper than 300 feet unless an iron-bonneted safety cage be used for the hoisting and lowering of such men, but this provision shall not apply to shafts in process of sinking.
    It shall be the duty of the operator to have all cages in which people are hoisted and lowered used in such shafts over 300 feet deep, constructed as follows: The bonnet shall be of 2 steel plates, 3/16 of an inch in thickness, sloping toward each side, and so arranged that they may be readily pushed upward to afford egress to persons therein, and such bonnet shall cover the top of the cage in such manner as to protect persons on the cage from objects falling into the shaft. The cage shall be provided with sheet iron or steel side casing not less than 1/8 of an inch thick, or with a netting composed of wire not less than 1/8 of an inch in diameter and not less than 3 1/2 feet in height, and with gates of not less than 3 1/2 feet in height and made of the same material as the side casing, either hung on hinges or working in slides, or with a bar in lieu of a gate, such bar being not less than 3 1/2 nor more than 4 feet above the cage bottom. Provided, however, that nothing herein shall be constructed as requiring the use of such gates or bars on cages when people are not being hoisted or lowered thereon, or when the number of people thereon does not exceed 50 per cent of the maximum capacity of the cage, determined as provided in Section 29. Every cage shall have overhead bars of such arrangement as to give every person on the cage an easy and secure hand hold. Every cage shall be provided with a safety catch of sufficient strength to hold the cage or skip with its maximum load at any point in the shaft in the event that the hoisting cable should break.
    The failure of the operator of any mine to comply with the provisions of this Section within 90 days after its passage shall constitute a Class A misdemeanor and shall be punished as hereinafter provided.
(Source: P.A. 87-1133.)