The Coal and Other Safety-Lamp Mines (Explosives) Regulations 1993

PART I INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Coal and Other Safety-Lamp Mines (Explosives) Regulations 1993 and shall come into force on 1st April 1993.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires–

“appoint” means appoint in writing with a written statement summarising the authority and responsibilities of any person in respect of whom that word is used and “appointed” and “appointment” shall be construed accordingly;

“approved” means approved in writing for the time being by the Health and Safety Executive or (except in the case of regulation 4(4)(a)) conforming with a standard so approved;

“attendant” means any person appointed to work in an explosives store or at a place designated by the manager pursuant to regulation 7(3);

“carriage”means–

(a)

any vehicle specially constructed for carrying explosives; or

(b)

any skip specially constructed for carrying explosives by monorail, freesteered vehicle or other form of mine transport;

“container” means any container designed to hold explosives, detonators or primed cartridges, but does not include a carriage;

“the danger zone” means the area within which persons would be at risk were the shot or round of shots concerned to be fired (including any place into which the shot or round of shots may blow);

“designated” means designated in writing;

“detonator” means any instantaneous or delay intiator for explosives and itself containing a charge of explosives fired by means of an electric current;

“exploder” means any electrical apparatus designed and constructed for initiating detonators;

“explosives” means–

(a)

any solid or liquid substance or any mixture of solid or liquid substances or both (except when confined within an article) which is capable by chemical reaction in itself of producing gas at such a temperature and pressure and at such a speed as could cause damage to surroundings or which is designed to produce an effect by heat, light, sound, gas or smoke or a combination of these as a result of non-detonative self-sustaining exothermic chemical reactions; or

(b)

any article (except a detonator) containing any substance or mixture such as is described in sub-paragraph (a) above;

“explosives store” means any place situated above ground, being–

(a)

premises registered in accordance with section 21 of the Explosives Act 1875(1) (“the 1875 Act”);

(b)

a magazine licensed in accordance with sections 6 to 8 of the 1875 Act; or

(c)

a store licensed in accordance with section 15 of the 1875 Act;

“firedamp” means any flammable gas or any flammable mixture of gases occurring naturally in a mine;

“maintained” means maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair;

“the manager” means the manager of a safety-lamp mine, and any duty imposed on, or any power given to, such a person by these Regulations shall extend only to the particular safety-lamp mine of which he is the manager;

“mine” means a mine within the meaning of section 180 of the Mines and Quarries Act 1954(2);

“misfire” means an occurrence where–

(a)

testing before firing a shot reveals broken continuity which cannot be rectified; or

(b)

any shot fails to explode when an attempt is made to fire it;

“notice” means notice in writing;

“owner” means the owner of a mine within the meaning of section 181 of the Mines and Quarries Act 1954;

“primed cartridge” means a cartridge of explosives into which a detonator has been inserted;

“safety-lamp mine” means–

(a)

any coal mine; or

(b)

any other mine in which–

(i)

there has occurred below ground an ignition of firedamp, or

(ii)

more than 0.25 per cent by volume of firedamp has been found on any occasion at any place below ground in the mine;

“shothole” means a bored hole which is to be charged with explosives for blasting purposes.

(2) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to–

(a) a numbered regulation is a reference to the regulation of these Regulations so numbered;

(b) a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph so numbered in the regulation in which that reference appears; and

(c) “shotfiring operations” or to a “shotfiring operation” includes a reference to–

(i) priming a cartridge,

(ii) charging and stemming a shothole,

(iii) linking or connecting the detonator wires in a round of shots,

(iv) coupling a shotfiring circuit to a detonator circuit, circuit tester or exploder,

(v) testing a shotfiring circuit, and

(vi) firing a shot or round of shots.

Application

3.  These Regulations shall apply to every safety-lamp mine.

(1)

1875 c. 17; sections 6 and 8 were modified by S.I. 1974/1885.

(2)

1954 c. 70; section 180 was modified by S.I. 1974/2013.