Mines and Quarries Act 1954
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
Mines and Quarries Act, 1954
(2 & 3 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 70
An Act to make fresh provision with respect to the management and control of mines and quarries and for securing the safety, health and welfare of persons employed thereat; to regulate the employment thereat of women and young persons; to require the fencing of abandoned and disused mines and of quarries; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I
General Duties of Mine and Quarry Owners
1 General duties of mine and quarry owners.
(1) It shall be the duty of the owner of every mine and quarry to make such financial and other provision and take such other steps as may be necessary to secure—
(a ) that the mine or quarry is managed and worked in accordance with the provisions in that behalf of this Act, orders made thereunder and regulations and is so planned and laid out as to enable that purpose to be readily secured; and
(b ) that all other provisions of this Act, orders made there-under and regulations and all requirements imposed under this Act, orders made thereunder and regulations are, so far as applicable to the mine or quarry, duly complied with;
and, in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing words, to give, to any person appointed by him for the purpose of securing the fulfilment, in relation to the mine or quarry, of statutory responsibilities of his with respect to any matters, written instructions defining the matters with respect to which that person is charged with securing the fulfilment of those responsibilities.
(2) Forthwith after the giving by the owner of a mine or quarry, to a person appointed by him for the purpose aforesaid, of such instructions as aforesaid, the owner shall send a copy of the instructions to the inspector for the district and to the manager of the mine or, as the case may be, the manager of the quarry or (where there is more than one manager thereof) each of them.
Part II
Management and Control (Mines)
Managers and Under-managers
2 Appointment, and general duties and powers, of mine managers.
(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Act, no mine shall be worked unless there is a sole manager of the mine, being an individual duly appointed and having such qualifications (if any) as are required by or by virtue of the said provisions.
(2) The manager of a mine shall have the management and control of the mine, exercisable subject to any instructions given to him by or on behalf of the owner thereof, and shall also—
(a ) have the duty of securing the discharge by all others of obligations imposed on them with respect to the mine by or by virtue of the following provisions of this Act; and
(b ) have such duties with respect to the appointment of persons to carry out inspections of the mine and to be in charge of, or to supervise or conduct, operations thereat, and such other duties, and such powers, as are imposed or conferred on him by or by virtue of the following provisions of this Act.
(3) The manager of a mine shall be appointed by the owner thereof who, if an individual, may appoint himself subject, in the case of a mine whereof the manager is by or by virtue of the following provisions of this Act required to hold qualifications for his office, to the possession by the owner of those qualifications.
3 Rights of mine manager with respect to instructions given by or on behalf of owner.
(1) Any instructions given to the manager of a mine by or on behalf of the owner thereof, being instructions affecting the fulfilment, in relation to the mine, by the manager of statutory responsibilities of his, shall, so far as they are not written, be confirmed in writing by the person by whom they were given forthwith after the making of a request in that behalf by the manager.
(2) Except in a case of emergency, neither the owner of a mine nor a person acting on his behalf shall, except with the consent of the manager of the mine, give, otherwise than through the manager, any instructions to a person employed at the mine who is responsible to the manager; and where the owner of a mine or a person acting on his behalf gives, in either of the said excepted cases, instructions which, apart from the exception, would be required to be given through the manager of the mine, the person who gave the instructions shall, forthwith after he has given them, inform the manager of the substance thereof and, if requested so to do by the manager, confirm them in writing forthwith after the making of the request.
The foregoing provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any instructions given by an under-manager of a mine or a person appointed by the manager of a mine in pursuance of this Act or regulations.
(3) Where, in the case of a mine whereof the manager is by or by virtue of the following provisions of this Act required to hold qualifications for his office, instructions are given by or on behalf of the owner of the mine to the manager of the mine, an under-manager thereof or a person appointed by the manager in pursuance of this Act or regulations, then, if the manager is of opinion that the execution of the instructions would or might be likely to prejudice the safety or health of the persons employed at the mine (or any of them) or to impede him in the discharge, in relation to the mine, of any duty imposed on him by or by virtue of this Act, he may,—
(a ) in a case where the instructions are given to him, decline to execute them until they are confirmed in writing by a person qualified for appointment as manager of the mine who is authorised in writing by the owner of the mine to confirm instructions given as aforesaid;
(b ) in any other case, direct that the instructions be not executed until they are so confirmed by such a person.
The foregoing provisions of this subsection shall not apply to instructions given by an owner of a mine who is an individual or by such a person as is mentioned in paragraph (a ) of this subsection.
(4) Where, in the case of such a mine as is mentioned in the last foregoing subsection, instructions are given and confirmed as therein mentioned, the document by which they are confirmed shall be preserved by the manager of the mine, and a copy of that document shall be preserved by the owner of the mine, in each case for three years after the instructions cease to be operative.
4 Qualifications of mine managers.
(1) No person shall be qualified to be appointed or to be the manager of a mine of coal, stratified ironstone, shale or fireclay at which more than thirty persons are employed below ground unless he is the holder of a first-class certificate of competency valid with respect to the mine, has attained the age of twenty-six years and satisfies such other conditions (if any) as may be prescribed.
(2) No person shall be qualified to be appointed or to be the manager of a mine of coal, stratified ironstone, shale or fire-clay at which more than fourteen but not more than thirty persons are employed below ground—
(a ) except in a case falling within paragraph (b ) of this subsection, unless he is the holder of a first-class or second-class certificate of competency valid with respect to the mine, has attained the age of twenty-three years and satisfies such other conditions (if any) as may be prescribed;
(b ) in a case where there is for the time being in force a direction, given by an inspector by notice served on the owner of the mine, that this paragraph shall apply to the mine, unless he is the holder of a first-class certificate of competency valid with respect to the mine, has attained the age of twenty-six years and satisfies such other conditions (if any) as may be prescribed:
Provided that an inspector may, by notice served on the owner of any such mine as aforesaid, exempt the mine from the provisions of this subsection.
(3) In the case of a mine of coal, stratified ironstone, shale or fireclay at which not more than fourteen persons are employed below ground, an inspector may by notice served on the owner of the mine direct that this subsection shall apply to the mine and, while the direction remains in force, no person shall be qualified to be appointed or to be the manager of the mine unless he is the holder of a first-class or second-class certificate of competency valid with respect to the mine, has attained the age of twenty-three years and satisfies such other conditions (if any) as may be prescribed.
(4) Regulations may direct, or empower an inspector to direct, that no person shall be qualified to be appointed or to be the manager of a mine other than of coal, stratified ironstone, shale or fireclay unless he satisfies such conditions as may be prescribed.
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