Solon does not know this law's official route yet. The proposal is recorded all the same, and the route appears here once its source is added.
82 provisions
Title and introductory text
2014 No. 3248
Health And Safety
The Mines Regulations 2014
Made
8th December 2014
Laid before Parliament
16th December 2014
Coming into force
6th April 2015
The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 15(1), (2), (3)(a), (4)(a), (5), and (8), 18(2)(za) and (a), 80(1) and 82(3)(a) of, and paragraphs 1(1) and (2), 3, 6(1), 8, 9, 10, 11, 13(1) and (3), 14, 16, 18(a), 20, and 21(a) and (b) of Schedule 3 to, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (“the 1974 Act”).
These Regulations, apart from the modifications referred to in the next paragraph, give effect without modifications to proposals submitted by the Health and Safety Executive under section 11(3) of the 1974 Act after carrying out consultation in accordance with section 50(3) of that Act.
It appears to the Secretary of State that the following are expedient as set out in section 80(1) of the 1974 Act—
(a) the repeals referred to in Part 2 of Schedule 3;
(b) the partial revocations to the Equipment and Protective Systems Intended for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 1996 and the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 in Part 2 of Schedule 4; and
(c) the modifications referred to in paragraphs 3, 15 and 17 of Schedule 5.
It also appears to the Secretary of State not to be appropriate to consult bodies in respect of those repeals, revocations and modifications in accordance with section 80(4) of the 1974 Act.
(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Mines Regulations 2014.
(2) These Regulations come into force on 6th April 2015.
(3) These Regulations apply outside Great Britain as sections 1 to 59 and 80 to 82 of the 1974 Act apply by virtue of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Application outside Great Britain) Order 2013.
(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—
“the 1954 Act” means the Mines and Quarries Act 1954;
“the 1974 Act” means the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974;
“the 1971 Regulations” means the Mines and Quarries (Tips) Regulations 1971;
“the 2014 Regulations” means the Explosives Regulations 2014;
“abandoned mine” means—
a mine to which section 151 of the 1954 Act applied immediately before the commencement date; or
a mine in respect of which a notice of abandonment has been given;
“action level” means, in relation to respirable dust, a concentration in air equal to or greater than 3mg/m³ as a time-weighted average over a 40 hour period;
“appoint” in relation to a person means appoint in writing with a statement summarising the person’s duties and authority, and “appointed” is to be construed accordingly;
“auxiliary fan” means a fan used or intended to be used at a mine wholly or mainly for ventilating a heading, drift or blind end;
“commencement date” means 6th April 2015;
“competent” in relation to a person means a person with sufficient training and experience, or knowledge and other qualities, to enable that person properly to undertake the duties assigned to that person, and “competence” is to be construed accordingly;
“conveyance” means any carriage, cage, skip or kibble in which persons, minerals or materials are wound through a shaft;
“COSHH” means the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002;
“counterweight” means a frame containing weights connected into a single conveyance winding system to reduce the out of balance static loads within the system;
“danger area” means any part of the mine below ground which is not for the time being safe to work in or pass through;
“DSEAR” means the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002;
“escape and rescue plan” has the meaning given in regulation 54;
“emergency” means a situation which renders necessary the evacuation or rescue (or both) of persons from a mine;
“explosive article” means an article containing one or more explosive substances;
“explosive substance” has the meaning given in regulation 2(1) of the 2014 Regulations;
“explosives” means explosive articles or explosive substances;
“gas outburst” means a sudden release of gas with or without the projection of minerals or rocks;
“ground control measure” means a measure designed to control the movement of the ground, including the provision and installation of support materials;
“health and safety document” has the meaning given in regulation 9(1);
“health surveillance” means an assessment of the state of health of a person, in relation to exposure to inhalable dust;
“inhalable dust” means airborne material which is capable of entering the nose and mouth during breathing, as defined by BS EN 481: 1993;
“inrush” means a sudden, unexpected inflow into the mine having the potential to expose persons to danger;
“lower explosive limit” means the minimum concentration of vapour in air below which propagation of a flame will not occur in the presence of an ignition source;
“the Management Regulations” means the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999;
“MASHAM” means the Management and Administration of Safety and Health at Mines Regulations 1993;
“mine” has the meaning given in regulation 3;
“mine operator” means—
in relation to a mine, the person who is in control of the operation of the mine; and
in relation to a mine which is to be constructed or operated, the person who proposes to control its operation or (if that person is not known) the person who in the course of a trade, business or other undertaking carried on by that person has commissioned its design and construction;
“misfire” means an occurrence in relation to the firing of shots where—
testing before firing reveals broken continuity which cannot be rectified; or
a shot or any part of a shot fails to explode when an attempt is made to fire it;
“notice of abandonment” means a notice given under regulation 6(3) that a mine has been abandoned;
“notifiable tip” has the meaning given in regulation 63;
“overwind” means unintentional overtravel of a conveyance or counterweight beyond the limits set by a device installed for the purpose of preventing such overtravel;
“owner” means the person entitled for the time being to work a mine;
“potentially hazardous area” has the meaning given in regulation 34;
“PUWER” means the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998;
“respirable dust” means airborne material which is capable of penetrating the gas exchange region of the lung, as defined by BS EN 481: 1993;
“respiratory protective equipment” means equipment which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work and which protects that person against risks to that person’s health from inhalation of harmful substances, and any addition or accessory designed to meet that objective;
“rockburst” means a sudden, violent failure of stopes, pillars, walls or other rock buttresses adjacent to or in the mine workings;
“self-rescuer” means respiratory protective equipment designed for use while escaping from a mine;
“shaft” includes a staple-pit, raise, winze, or any similar excavation (whether sunk or in the course of being sunk);
“shot” means a single shot or a series of shots fired as part of one blast;
“shotfirer” means a person appointed in accordance with the mine operator’s written procedures to be responsible for shotfiring operations;
“tip” means an accumulation or deposit of any refuse from a mine (whether in a solid or liquid state or in solution or suspension) other than an accumulation or deposit situated underground, and includes, but is not limited to—
overburden dumps, backfill, spoil heaps, stock piles and lagoons, and
any wall or other structure that retains or confines a tip;
“tips rules” has the meaning given by regulation 66;
“ventilation plan” has the meaning given by regulation 59;
“winding apparatus” means mechanically operated apparatus for lowering and raising loads through a shaft and includes a conveyance or counterweight attached to such apparatus and all ancillary apparatus.
(2) For the purposes of these Regulations, a mine is treated as being worked at any time when—
(a) there are persons at work below ground; or
(b) plant or equipment is in operation at the mine to maintain the safety of that mine or of any other mine; or
(c) the operation of sinking a shaft or driving an outlet is being undertaken at the mine.
(3) For the purposes of these Regulations, the mine with which a tip is associated is determined as follows—
(a) in the case of a tip on premises which are deemed to form part of a mine, the tip is associated with that mine;
(b) in the case of a tip not falling within paragraph (a) but on premises which, at any time after the commencement date, have been deemed to form part of a mine, the tip is associated with that mine, or (if applicable) the most recent mine of which the tip has been deemed to form part; and
(c) in any other case, the tip is associated with the mine from which refuse is deposited on the tip, or, in the case of a tip which is used for the deposit of refuse from more than one mine, whichever of those mines the Executive directs in writing.
(1) This regulation defines “mine” for the purposes of these Regulations.
(2) “Mine” means an excavation or system of excavations (including all excavations to which a common system of ventilation is provided) made for the purpose of, or in connection with, the extraction, wholly or substantially by means involving persons working below ground, of—
(a) minerals (in their natural state or in solution or suspension), or
(b) mineral products.
(3) A mine is deemed to include so much of the surface (including buildings, structures or works on it) surrounding or adjacent to the shafts or outlets of the mine as is occupied with the mine for the purpose of, or in connection with—
(a) working the mine,
(b) the storage, treatment or preparation for sale, consumption or use of minerals or mineral products extracted from the mine, or
(c) the removal from the mine of minerals or mineral products extracted from it or of refuse from it.
(4) A mine is not deemed to include premises in which a manufacturing process is carried on for a purpose other than—
(a) working the mine, or
(b) the preparation for sale of minerals extracted from the mine.
(5) Premises used to deposit refuse from a single mine and occupied exclusively by the owner of the mine are deemed to form part of the mine.
(6) Premises used to deposit refuse from two or more mines and occupied by the owner of one of the mines (either exclusively or jointly with the owner of the other or any of the others) are deemed to form part of whichever of the mines the Executive directs in writing.
(7) A railway line serving one or more mines, other than a line falling within paragraph (3) or belonging to a railway company, is deemed to form part of the mine or (if more than one) of whichever of the mines the Executive directs in writing.
(8) A conveyor or aerial ropeway provided for the removal from a mine of minerals extracted from it, or of refuse from it, is deemed to form part of the mine.
(1) Subject to paragraphs (2), (5) and (6), and except where a contrary intention appears, these Regulations apply to all mines.
(2) Subject to regulation 69 (plans of abandoned mines), these Regulations do not apply to abandoned mines.
(3) These Regulations apply to a tip if—
(a) the tip is on premises which are deemed to form part of a mine under regulation 3; or
(b) the tip is not on such premises but the mine with which it is associated has not been abandoned and the premises on which the tip is situated continue to be occupied exclusively by the owner of that mine.
(4) If a tip is not, apart from this regulation, deemed to form part of a mine under regulation 3 by reason only that part, but not the whole, of the premises on which the tip is situated is occupied exclusively by the owner of the mine, the tip is deemed to be one to which these Regulations apply and the premises on which it is situated are deemed to form part of the mine with which it is associated.
(5) The Executive may by direction in writing given to the mine operator and owner direct that, as from such day as may be specified in the direction, a tip or part of a tip is, for the purposes of paragraph (4), one to which these Regulations no longer apply.
(6) If the whole or any part of a tip which, apart from this paragraph, would be a tip to which these Regulations apply is appropriated to some use which, in the opinion of the Executive, is inconsistent with the resumption of tipping operations on the tip, or on a particular part of it, the Executive may direct in writing that, as from the day specified in the direction, the whole or part or any part of the tip that is specified in the direction ceases to be a tip to which these Regulations apply.
(7) Where a direction is made under paragraph (5) or (6), the premises on which the tip (or part of the tip) is situated cease to be part of the mine with which the tip is associated.
(8) Part 8 of these Regulations applies to a tip on premises which are occupied exclusively by the owner of an abandoned mine and which are used for depositing refuse from another mine as if the person who is in control of the tip were the mine operator.
(1) The owner of a mine must not appoint another person to be the mine operator unless that person is suitable and has sufficient resources to be able to operate the mine safely.
(2) Where the owner of a mine appoints another person to be the mine operator, the owner must provide the mine operator with any relevant information that is available, or that becomes available, about circumstances that might affect the health and safety of persons at the mine.
(3) Where the owner of a mine appoints another person to be the mine operator, a written statement of that appointment must be signed by the owner and the mine operator and a copy must be provided to the mine operator.
(4) The owner must keep the record, and the mine operator must keep the copy, referred to in paragraph (3) for the duration of the appointment.
(1) At least 28 days before a mine is worked, the mine operator must notify the information specified in paragraph (2) to the Executive in writing.
(2) The information to be notified under paragraph (1) is—
(a) the name and address of the mine;
(b) the name and address of the owner; and
(c) the name and address of the mine operator and whether the mine operator is an individual, a corporation or a partnership.
(3) Where an event specified in paragraph (4) occurs, the mine operator must notify the Executive in writing of the event within 28 days of that event occurring.
(4) The events to be notified to the Executive under paragraph (3) are—
(a) any change in the name, address or location of the mine;
(b) any change in the name, address or location of the mine operator;
(c) the use of a mine for a purpose other than the extraction of mineral;
(d) the abandonment of the mine or a seam or vein system, shaft or outlet.
(5) In the case of a mine which is in existence or under construction on the commencement date, subject to regulation 71 (transitional provisions: general), notification that has been made under section 139 of the 1954 Act or under regulation 7 of MASHAM is deemed to be notification under paragraph (1).
(1) The mine operator must take the necessary measures to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the mine and its equipment are designed, constructed, equipped, commissioned, operated and maintained in such a way that persons at work can perform the work assigned to them without endangering their own health and safety or the health and safety of others.
(2) The mine operator must coordinate all measures relating to the health and safety of persons at work at the mine and their implementation.
(3) The mine operator must ensure that, in the event of the abandonment or ceasing of operations at a mine, the mine is left, so far as is reasonably practicable, in a safe condition.
Every employer of persons at work at a mine and every person at work at a mine must co-operate with the mine operator to the extent necessary to enable the mine operator to comply with the relevant statutory provisions.
(1) The mine operator must ensure that no work is carried out at the mine unless a document (in these Regulations referred to as the “health and safety document”) has been prepared which—
(a) demonstrates that the risks to which persons at the mine are exposed have been assessed in accordance with regulation 3 of the Management Regulations;
(b) demonstrates that adequate measures, including measures concerning the design, use and maintenance, including (where appropriate) testing, of the mine and of its equipment, have been and will continue to be taken to safeguard the health and safety of persons at the mine;
(c) includes a statement of how the measures referred to in sub-paragraph (b) will be co-ordinated; and
(d) records the following information–
(i) rules required by regulation 12; and
(ii) the conclusions of any appraisal or assessment of a tip undertaken in accordance with regulation 61 or 62 (as applicable).
(2) In addition to the matters referred to in paragraph (1), the health and safety document must, where appropriate, include—
(a) a plan detailing the equipment and measures required to protect persons at work at the mine from the risk of explosion;
(b) where toxic gases are or may be present in the atmosphere at the mine in such concentration that the atmosphere may be harmful to the health and safety of persons at work, a plan detailing the equipment and measures required to protect persons at work at the mine from the harmful atmosphere; and
(c) in respect of any zone below ground where rockbursts or gas outbursts may occur, a description, including an operating plan, setting out as far as possible the zones susceptible to such rockbursts or gas outbursts and the measures necessary for the protection of persons at work in, approaching or passing through such zones.
(3) In relation to the escape and rescue plan required by regulation 54, the health and safety document must identify those with responsibility for the preparation and execution of the plan and the places where the plan and copies of it are kept.
(4) The mine operator must ensure that the health and safety document is—
(a) reviewed from time to time and kept up to date; and
(b) made available to each employer of persons at work at the mine and to all persons at work at the mine.
(5) The mine operator must ensure that the measures identified in the health and safety document are taken and any plans included in the document are followed.
(1) With a view to securing the health and safety of persons at work at the mine, the mine operator must—
(a) establish a management structure which enables the mine to be operated in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions;
(b) make a record of the management structure and the extent of the authority and duties of persons in that structure;
(c) appoint a competent individual to be responsible for the overall management of the mine, provided that where the mine operator is an individual and is competent, the mine operator may discharge the functions of that competent individual;
(d) ensure that when, for whatever reason, the individual appointed in accordance with sub-paragraph (c) is not readily available, a competent individual is nominated as a substitute to hold the authority and perform the duties of the first named individual;
(e) ensure that a competent individual is present at and in charge of the operation of the mine at all times when persons are working at the mine; and
(f) ensure that sufficient competent individuals are appointed to the management structure to manage the mine safely.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), the management structure must be established to provide in particular that all persons working in the mine come under the authority of a competent person in the management structure who has a duty to exercise such supervision as is appropriate to ensure the health and safety of those persons and of all others who may be affected by their activities.
(3) The mine operator must ensure that the management structure is reviewed regularly and revised where necessary and in particular if the mine undergoes significant changes, extensions or conversions.
(4) The mine operator must ensure that each person who forms part of the management structure is provided with a copy of those parts of the health and safety document which describe that person’s authority and duties.
(5) The reference to a competent individual in charge in paragraph (1)(c) is a reference to that individual in charge subject to the overall control exercised by the mine operator.
The mine operator must ensure that—
(a) no person undertakes any work at the mine unless the person either is competent to do that work or does so under the instruction and supervision of some other person who is competent to give instruction in, and to supervise, the doing of that work; and
(b) no work is undertaken at the mine unless a sufficient number of persons are present who have the requisite competence to perform the tasks assigned to them.
(1) The mine operator must ensure that—
(a) rules are in place at the mine with a view to securing—
(i) the health and safety of persons at the mine; and
(ii) the safe use of equipment; and
(b) copies of all current instructions, rules and schemes required to be made under these Regulations—
(i) are given to any person at work at the mine upon whom they impose duties; and
(ii) are comprehensible to all persons at work at the mine to whom they apply.
(2) The mine operator must take all reasonable measures to ensure that each person at work at the mine understands any instructions, rules and schemes made under these Regulations which are relevant to that person.
(3) The mine operator must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that any instructions, rules and schemes made under these Regulations are followed or (as appropriate) complied with, by persons at work at the mine.
(1) Where it is shown by the health and safety document that such a measure is necessary, the mine operator must make arrangements for a system of permits (referred to in this regulation as “permits to work”) to carry out—
(a) hazardous operations; and
(b) operations which are usually straightforward but which may interact with other activities to cause serious hazards.
(2) A permit to work must—
(a) be issued by a suitable person in the management structure required by regulation 10; and
(b) specify the conditions to be fulfilled and the precautions to be taken before, during and after the work concerned.
(1) The mine operator must—
(a) make arrangements for the systematic inspection of all parts of the mine below ground—
(i) where people work or pass; or
(ii) which otherwise could have an effect on the health and safety of persons at work at the mine;
(b) divide the mine into districts for the purpose of inspection under paragraph (a), taking due account of—
(i) the extent of each district;
(ii) conditions (including risk) in each district; and
(iii) other relevant circumstances;
(c) prepare and keep up to date a suitable written scheme for the inspection of the mine required by paragraph (a);
(d) appoint sufficient competent persons to undertake the activities referred to in this regulation;
(e) ensure that, where appropriate, suitable written reports are made of the inspections and that each report records significant defects and the steps taken, or proposed to be taken, to remedy them; and
(f) ensure that any proposed steps in a report are taken, provided they are appropriate.
(2) This regulation does not apply to shafts.
(1) The mine operator must—
(a) prepare and keep up to date a suitable written scheme for the systematic inspection, maintenance and testing of all electrical and mechanical plant and equipment at the mine, with a view to ensuring the health and safety of the persons at work in the mine;
(b) ensure that, where appropriate, suitable written reports are made of the inspections and that each report records significant defects and the steps taken, or proposed to be taken, to remedy them; and
(c) ensure that any proposed steps in a report are taken, provided they are appropriate.
(2) Schemes and written reports made for the purposes of paragraph (1) are presumed to be adequate to evidence fulfilment of the duties in regulations 5(2) and 6(3) of PUWER.
(3) This regulation does not apply to winding apparatus.
The mine operator must ensure that—
(a) danger areas are clearly identified;
(b) there is a suitable barrier or enclosure to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, inadvertent entry by any unauthorised person to a danger area; and
(c) where any person is authorised to enter the danger area, appropriate measures are taken to protect that person’s health and safety.
18 Power of safety representatives to report imminent risk
Where two or more safety representatives (within the meaning of regulation 2(1) of the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977) consider that there is an imminent risk of serious personal injury arising from an activity carried out below ground at a mine, they—
(a) may make a report in writing to the mine operator; and
(b) may provide a copy of that report to the Executive.
(1) The mine operator must ensure that operations and work at the mine are planned and carried out—
(a) so far as is reasonably practicable, to prevent the outbreak of fire or spontaneous combustion; and
(b) with a view to preventing the spread of any fire.
(2) The mine operator must ensure that the mine is equipped with—
(a) suitable fire-fighting equipment; and
(b) where necessary, fire detectors and alarm systems.
(3) The mine operator must ensure that the fire-fighting equipment referred to in paragraph (2)(a) is maintained in good condition and is easily accessible.
(1) The mine operator must prepare and implement a fire protection plan detailing—
(a) the likely sources of fire; and
(b) the precautions to be taken to protect against, detect and combat the outbreak and spread of fire.
(2) In respect of every part of the mine other than any building on the surface of the mine, the fire protection plan must—
(a) include the designation of persons to implement the plan;
(b) include the arrangements for any necessary contacts with external emergency services, particularly as regards rescue work and fire fighting; and
(c) be adapted to the nature of the activities carried out at the mine and the size of the mine.
(3) The fire protection plan must be kept at the mine or at some other suitable place.
(1) The mine operator must ensure that—
(a) there are in place in the zones classified under regulation 7(1) of DSEAR, specific arrangements to detect the presence, and monitor the concentration, of flammable gas; and
(b) measures are taken to reduce the level of flammable gas in any zone in which it has been detected to as low a level as is reasonably practicable.
(2) The measures referred to in paragraph (1)(b) must include (where necessary) drainage, removal and dilution.
(1) The mine operator must ensure that when in any zone, or at any place within a zone, classified in accordance with regulation 7(1) of DSEAR—
(a) the concentration of a flammable gas exceeds 25% by volume of the lower explosive limit of that gas in the general body of air, all activities that present a significant ignition risk are halted until the concentration is reduced so that it is below that level; and
(b) in the event that the concentration exceeds 40% by volume of the lower explosive limit of that gas in the general body of air, persons are withdrawn from that place or zone until the concentration has been reduced so that it is below that level.
(2) The mine operator must ensure that none of the following is taken below ground—
(a) tobacco or other materials for smoking; or
(b) objects used to produce a flame for the purposes of smoking.
The mine operator must ensure that—
(a) no burning or welding equipment is used except in a shaft or inset; and
(b) before using any such equipment in a shaft or inset, an appropriate assessment is made of the risks of the proposed operation and appropriate steps are taken to mitigate the risks identified.
The mine operator must ensure that (where necessary) there are in place—
(a) adequate arrangements to ensure that there is sufficient inert content in dust in roadways in the mine to ensure that risks of explosion are controlled; and
(b) suitable and effective barriers against the spread of explosion.
(1) The mine operator must ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, all explosives are transported, stored, handled and used safely and securely.
(2) The mine operator must ensure that operations involving the transport, storage, handling or use of explosives are not carried out by anyone other than a person who is—
(a) competent; and
(b) authorised in accordance with rules to do so.
(3) The mine operator must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that no person issues or takes control of explosives except in connection with the person’s duties at the mine.
29 Duties relating to explosives in mines with explosive atmospheres
In mines in which places have been classified as hazardous under regulation 7(1) of DSEAR, the mine operator must ensure that—
(a) the only explosives that are used are suitable for use in such places; and
(b) before a shot is charged or fired, suitable tests for the presence of flammable gases are carried out.
(1) This regulation applies in relation to the temporary storage below ground at a mine of explosives for which a licence for their storage is not required by virtue of regulation 7(2) and (3) of the 2014 Regulations.
(2) Subject to regulation 7(4) of the 2014 Regulations, the mine operator may designate as many places below ground at the mine as may be necessary for the temporary storage of explosives to which this regulation applies pending their use in shotfiring operations.
(3) The mine operator must not designate a place under paragraph (2) unless it is—
(a) suitable; and
(b) capable of being made secure.
(4) A place designated under paragraph (2) must, at all times, be made secure or be supervised.
Rules required by regulation 12 must include—
(a) requirements relating to shotfiring operations;
(b) procedures for appointing shotfirers;
(c) procedures for authorising other persons who will be involved with the transport, storage, handling and use of explosives;
(d) requirements relating to misfires; and
(e) in mines in which places have been classified as hazardous under regulation 7(1) of DSEAR, requirements relating to testing for the presence of flammable gases before any shot is fired.
(1) The mine operator must ensure that such ground control measures are taken as are necessary to keep secure every place in the mine where persons work or pass.
(2) The duty in paragraph (1) to keep secure every place in the mine where persons work or pass is a duty to ensure security against any reasonably foreseeable risk to the health and safety of any person.
(3) Before any excavation is undertaken at a mine, the mine operator must carry out an assessment of the risks from ground movement.
(4) The mine operator must ensure that the assessment is—
(a) recorded; and
(b) reviewed and, where appropriate, revised, if there is reason to suspect that there has been a material change in the matters to which it relates.
(5) The mine operator must ensure that sufficient ground control measures are taken as soon as possible to address effectively the risks identified by the assessment.
(6) Paragraph (1) does not require the mine operator to take ground control measures with respect to a danger area.
(7) In the case of a coal mine, the duty in paragraph (5) is presumed to be met if the mine operator has implemented the standards in Schedule 1, provided that the assessment indicates that those standards are sufficient to address effectively the risks identified by that assessment.
The mine operator must ensure that inrush into any working in a mine of—
(a) gas from disused workings (whether mine workings or not); or
(b) water or material that flows, or is likely to flow when wet, from any source,
is prevented.
(1) The mine operator must obtain, so far as is reasonably practicable, all the information which indicates, or tends to indicate, the presence or absence of a potentially hazardous area in the vicinity of any working being carried on, or proposed to be carried on, in the mine.
(2) The mine operator must ensure that no working is undertaken in the mine in the vicinity of a body of surface water until—
(a) such steps are taken as may be necessary to ascertain the total thickness of the strata lying between the working and the surface water; and
(b) the mine operator is satisfied that the strata are sufficiently reliable to prevent an inrush of water from the surface.
(3) In this regulation—
(a) “body of surface water” means the sea, a lake or river, or any other body of surface water (whether accumulated naturally or not); and
(b) “potentially hazardous area” means—
(i) any disused workings (whether mine workings or not);
(ii) any rock or stratum containing or likely to contain water (whether dispersed or in natural cavities);
(iii) any peat, moss, sand, gravel, silt, or other material that flows or is likely to flow when wet; and
(iv) any body of surface water.
(1) Before undertaking any working in a mine which would be within—
(a) 45 metres (measured in any plane) of—
(i) the surface; or
(ii) any other potentially hazardous area within the meaning of any of sub-paragraphs (i) to (iii) of regulation 34(3)(b), except disused mine workings; or
(b) 37 metres (measured in any plane) of any disused mine workings,
the mine operator must assess the risk of the occurrence of an inrush to determine whether precautionary measures are necessary to prevent an inrush.
(2) Where the risk assessment indicates that precautionary measures are necessary, the mine operator must ensure that the working is not carried on unless—
(a) a suitable scheme of work is prepared which lays down the procedures designed to ensure that an inrush does not occur; and
(b) the procedures required by the scheme are implemented.
(3) The mine operator must ensure that a copy of the scheme is kept at the mine until the working is completed.
The mine operator must ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the construction and modification of every shaft is planned, designed and carried out so as to be safe and without the risk of injury to any person.
(1) The mine operator must provide suitable equipment in any relevant shaft or outlet that may be used for travel by persons.
(2) The mine operator must—
(a) ensure that it is safe for persons to use the equipment for travel; and
(b) provide written instructions for the safe use of the equipment for travel.
(3) The mine operator must ensure that a written scheme is in place for the specification, selection and use of a rope in connection with winding apparatus, stipulating the maximum operating life of such a rope and any conditions which may reduce that life.
(4) The mine operator must ensure that the stipulated maximum operating life is not exceeded unless a competent person has—
(a) carried out a suitable risk assessment;
(b) inspected the rope; and
(c) confirmed that it is safe for the stipulated maximum operating life to be extended and by how much time.
(5) In this regulation, a relevant shaft or outlet is a shaft or outlet in which considerable physical effort is required by persons using it to travel, having regard to the distance to be travelled, the gradient, underfoot conditions and other relevant factors.
The mine operator must ensure that winding apparatus is suitable and has effective means—
(a) to control the speed and distance of travel of the conveyance or counterweight;
(b) to stop and hold the conveyance or counterweight in a safe manner, in the event of an overwind; and
(c) to monitor the position and movement of every conveyance in a shaft.
(1) The mine operator must—
(a) make arrangements for the systematic inspection, maintenance and (where appropriate) testing by competent persons of—
(i) shafts;
(ii) their linings and fixtures; and
(iii) winding apparatus;
(b) prepare and keep up to date a suitable written scheme for the inspection, maintenance and testing required by sub-paragraph (a);
(c) appoint sufficient competent persons to undertake the activities required by this regulation;
(d) ensure that, where appropriate, suitable written reports are made of inspections and that each report records significant defects and the steps taken, or proposed to be taken, to remedy them; and
(e) ensure that any proposed steps in a report are taken, provided they are appropriate.
(2) The mine operator must ensure that, when winding apparatus is installed or modified, the apparatus is not used for the transport of persons unless—
(a) it has been inspected by a competent person;
(b) it has been found to be safe to use; and
(c) a written report has been made confirming that it is safe to use.