EXPLOSIVES IN COAL MINES ORDER, 1934, Dated January 1, 1934, Made by the BOARD OF TRADE, REGULATING THE SUPPLY, USE AND STORAGE OF EXPLOSIVES.
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1934/6 |
| Year | 1934 |
1934 No. 6
COAL INDUSTRY
(3) Explosives
(i) Generally
THE EXPLOSIVES IN COAL MINES ORDER, 1934, DATED JANUARY 1, 1934, MADE BY THE BOARD OF TRADE, REGULATING THE SUPPLY, USE AND STORAGE OF EXPLOSIVES.[This Order (S.R. & O. 1934, I, p. 221) is printed as amended by Orders, dated November 18, 1937 (S.R. & O. 1937 (No. 1049) p. 402), November 23, 1938 (S.R. & O. 1938 (No. 1409) I, p. 587), September 17, 1943 (S.R. & O. 1943 (No. 1360) I, p. 95), November 29, 1946 (S.R. & O. 1946 (No. 2060) I, p. 292), February, 4 1948 (S.I. 1948 (No. 181) I, p. 528).]
In pursuance of the power conferred upon them by Section 61 of the Coal Mines Act, 1911, and under the provisions of the Mining Industry Act, 1920, the Board of Trade hereby make the following Order:—
PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
1.—(a) No explosive substance shall be stored underground in any mine. The owner, agent or manager of the mine shall provide a suitable place or places of storage above-ground for all explosives intended to be used in the mine and shall make suitable provision conveniently near the entrace of the mine for the storage of surplus explosive brought out of the mine at the end of each shift. If any explosive remains in the possession of a workman at the end of his shift, either he shall bring it with him out of the mine and return it at once to the place of storage provided for the purpose, or, if the explosive is required for a shift immediately following, he shall deliver it personally to the workman succeeding him in his working place.
(b) No explosive shall be taken or used underground except in cartridges, and such cartridges shall be taken into the mine and kept until about to be used for the charging of a shot hole in a secure case or canister containing not more than five pounds, and a person shall not have in use at one time in any one place more than one of such cases or canisters. No explosive shall be taken or used underground except in cartridges of the diameter of 7/8 inch, 1¼ inches, 1 7/16 inches, 1¾ inches, or 2 inches, or in the ironstone mines in the Cleveland District, in cartridges of the diameter of 1 3/16 inches.
(c) No drill shall be used for the boring of a shot hole unless it allows at least a clearance of 1/8 inch over the diameter of the cartridge which is intended to be used in the shot hole, and no person shall attempt to charge a shot hole unless such clearance exists.
(d)—(i) Detonators shall be kept in a place of storage provided in pursuance of Clause 1 (a) of this Order until issued.
(ii) The detonators in any place of storage as aforesaid shall be under the sole control of the manager or some one person specially authorised in writing by the manager to have such control in respect of that place of storage for the time being.
(iii) The manager or other person for the time being having control of detonators as aforesaid shall only issue detonators—
(a) in mines to which Part II of this Order applies, to shotfirers appointed in pursuance of Clause 6 of this Order;
(b) in other mines, to such officials of the mine, who shall be either firemen, examiners or deputies of the mine, or underground officials of the mine superior to the firemen, examiners or deputies, as are specially authorised in writing by the manager for the purpose. Provided that, in any such mine, if shotfirers are appointed for the mine subject to the same conditions and having the same duties as shotfirers in mines to which Part II of this Order applies, detonators may be issued to such shotfirers.
(iv) Every person to whom detonators are issued as aforesaid shall keep the detonators until they are about to be used for the charging of a shot hole, in a suitable case or box which shall be provided by the owner and which shall be kept securely locked and separate from any other case or box containing explosive, and shall be used only for the storage of the detonators.
(v) No person shall take into the mine or have in his possession in the mine any detonators except in accordance with the foregoing provisions.
(vi) In the case of a shaft being sunk from the surface or deepened, it shall not be deemed a contravention of the foregoing provisions if the primers for charges are fitted with detonators on the surface before being taken into the shaft, provided the primers are so fitted in a workshop established under Section 47 of the Explosives Act, 1875, and are only taken into the shaft immediately before use by the shotfirer or other authorised person and in a thick felt bag or other receptacle sufficient to protect them from shock.
2.—(a) Every charge shall be placed in a properly drilled and placed shot hole, and shall have sufficient stemming, and each such charge shall consist of a cartridge or cartridges of not more than one description of explosive. It shall be the duty of the person firing the shot to satisfy himself that these requirements are fulfilled before he fires the shot.
(b) No iron or steel scraper, charger, tamping rod, or stemmer shall be taken into or used in the mine; and only clay or other non-inflammable substances shall be used for stemming, and shall be provided by the owner, agent or manager of the mine.
(c) No explosive shall be forcibly pressed into a hole, and, when a hole has been charged, the explosive shall not be unrammed, nor shall any part of the stemming be removed nor shall the detonator leads be pulled out.
(d) Before any shot hole is charged, the direction of the hole shall, where possible, be distinctly marked on the roof or other convenient place.
(e) The person firing the shot shall, before doing so, see that all persons in the vicinity have taken proper shelter, and he shall also take suitable steps to prevent any person approaching the shot. He shall also himself take proper shelter. If he has reason to believe that there is a possibility of the shot blowing through into an adjoining place he shall send verbal warning to the persons in that adjoining place to take proper shelter.
(f) No shot shall be fired in any mine except by means of an efficient electrical apparatus or by means of a fuze complying with the conditions and ignited in the manner specified in the Second Schedule hereto. Provided that in a coal mine or part of a coal mine in which the use of safety lamps is not required and to which Part II of this Order does not apply and in any mine not being a coal mine, shots may be fired by means of squibs of the character specified in the Third Schedule hereto, subject to the following conditions:—
(a) Squibs shall not be taken into the mine except in a suitable metal case, separate from any other explosive, and shall be kept in the case until about to be used for the firing of a shot.
(b) No person shall shorten, bend or untwist the slow match or touch, or light it except at the extreme outer end, or in any other way expedite its burning.
(c) No person shall relight a touch which has died out or been extinguished.
No person shall take into a mine or have in his possession any squib other than a squib of the character specified in the Third Schedule.
(g) The person firing the shot shall, after the shot has been fired, make a careful examination of the place and see that it is safe in all respects.
(h) Where shots are fired electrically they shall only be fired by a person authorised in writing by the manager for the purpose. The authorised person shall not use, for the purpose of firing, a cable which is less than 20 yards in length. He shall himself couple up the cable to the fuze or detonator wires and shall do so before coupling the cable to the firing apparatus. He shall take care to prevent the cable coming into contact with any power or lighting cables. He...
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