PART III continued
(1)The manager of every mine shall have power to make rules (hereafter in this Act referred to as “transport rules”) with respect to the use of vehicles and conveyors in the mine and the conditions under which they may be so used and generally for securing the safe operation in the mine of vehicles and conveyors and the avoidance of bodily injury being caused to persons by reason of the running thereof, and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing words,—
(a)specifying a standard height and width with respect to each length of road in the mine in which vehicles run or conveyors are operated;
(b)specifying the maximum loads (by reference to weight, dimensions, number or other criterion) that may be carried in vehicles in any length of road in the mine and the maximum number of vehicles (according as to whether they are loaded or unloaded) that may be coupled together to run as a set or train in any length of road in the mine;
(c)specifying the maximum speeds at which vehicles may run in any length of road in the mine; and
(d)prohibiting the conveyance in roads in the mine of persons in vehicles or on conveyors except in such circumstances and in accordance with such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the rules and specifying precautions to be observed when persons are so conveyed.
(2)The exercise by the manager of a mine of the power conferred by the foregoing subsection shall be obligatory for the purpose mentioned in paragraph (a) of that subsection and also for the purposes mentioned in paragraphs (b) to (d) thereof save in so far as an exercise of that power for those purposes could, having regard to the circumstances of the mine, serve no object, and regulations may render an exercise of that power obligatory for any other purpose for which it may be exercised.
(3)The power conferred by subsection (1) of this section to specify by transport rules standard heights and widths with respect to lengths of road may, as respects any particular length of road, be so exercised as either to specify a standard height and width to be applicable without exception throughout that length of road or to specify a standard height and width to be applicable throughout that length of road but subject to exceptions (as regards height or width, or both) for such places therein as may be specified in the rules.
(4)Transport rules having effect with respect to a mine may impose duties and prohibitions on persons employed thereat and may make different provision with respect to different roads or classes of roads, different lengths of road or lengths of road of different classes and different classes of vehicles, conveyors and loads.
(5)It shall be the duty of the manager of every mine—
(a)so to frame such of the provisions of transport rules as have effect by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section as to secure that, as regards any length of road in the mine to which the provisions relate, the specified standard width is not less than such as is sufficient to permit of the provision of such amount of space as may be calculated to secure the safety of persons who work in or pass through that length of road while vehicles are running or conveyors are being operated therein; and
(b)so to frame such of the provisions of transport rules as have effect by virtue of paragraph (b) or (c) of that subsection as to secure that each maximum thereby specified is such as will, in his opinion, afford a reasonable margin of safety.
(6)It shall be the duty of the manager of every mine—
(a)to take, with respect to every length of road therein with respect to which a standard height and width is specified by provisions of transport rules having effect by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section, such steps as are appropriate for securing that the height and width of that length of road throughout are at all times not less than the standard height and width so specified, save, so far as regards any such place therein as is specified in the rules by virtue of subsection (3) of this section, in so far as that height and width are, or either of them is, by virtue of that subsection, inapplicable;
(b)to secure that all other provisions of transport rules relating to the mine are executed and enforced.
(7)A transport rule which is inconsistent with the provisions of any regulation shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be of no effect.
(8)If an inspector is of opinion with respect to a mine that provision ought to be made by transport rules having effect with respect to the mine for any matter for which provision is not for the time being made by such rules or that different provision ought to be made by such rules for any matter for which provision is for the time being made by such rules, he may serve on the manager of the mine a notice stating that he is of that opinion, specifying the matter for which, in his opinion, provision or, as the case may be, different provision ought to be made as aforesaid and the nature of the provision that, in his opinion, ought to be made, and requiring the manager, before the expiration of such period beginning with the day on which the notice becomes operative as may be specified therein, to exercise the power conferred on him by subsection (1) of this section in accordance with the tenor of the notice.
The provisions of Part XV of this Act with respect to references upon notices served by inspectors shall apply to a notice served under this subsection.
(9)A copy of all transport rules for the time being in force with respect to a mine shall be kept at the office at the mine or at such other place as may be approved by an inspector, and notices containing a summary of so much of any such rules as affect any person shall be kept posted at suitable places in the mine in such characters and in such positions as to be easily seen and read by him.
(10)A document purporting to be certified by the manager of a mine to be a true copy of any transport rules for the time being in force with respect to the mine shall be receivable in evidence and shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to be such a copy.
(1)The following provisions shall have effect with respect to every length of road in a mine, being a length in which run vehicles moved otherwise than by hand or by animal traction (whether or not vehicles moved by those means also run therein):—
(a)during any period during which vehicles are moving in that length of road otherwise than by those means, no person employed at the mine (other than an authorised person) shall, except in accordance with the provisions of regulations in that behalf, pass on foot along that length of road or any part thereof unless the movement of vehicles in that length of road, other than vehicles moved by those means, is specially stopped for the purpose of allowing him to do so;
(b)if that length of road is used at the beginning or end, or at the beginning and end, of a shift by not less than ten persons for the purpose of walking to or from their working places in the mine, it shall be the duty of the manager of the mine to fix a period or periods for the purpose of enabling them to do so in safety, and no person shall cause or permit a vehicle (whether loaded or not) to move, otherwise than by those means, in that length of road during a period fixed in pursuance of the foregoing provisions of this paragraph:
Provided that—
(i). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1 an inspector may, by notice served on the manager of a particular mine, exempt from the provisions of either or both of those paragraphs any such length of road as aforesaid in that mine; and
(ii)in any prosecution instituted in respect of a person’s passing along a length of road or part thereof in contravention of paragraph (a) of this subsection, it shall be a defence to prove that that person had reasonable cause to believe that it might be necessary for repairs to be carried out forthwith in that length of road and was so passing for the purpose of verifying his belief and of ascertaining the nature or extent of the repairs which he believed it might be necessary to carry out.
(2)Except with the written permission of the manager of a mine, no person shall, otherwise than in such circumstances and in accordance with such conditions (if any) as may be specified in transport rules having effect with respect to the mine, accompany on foot below ground in the mine a vehicle which is moving as part of any rope haulage apparatus.
(3)For the purposes of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section the expression “authorised person” means, in relation to a length of road in a mine,—
(a)an official of the mine;
(b)a person employed in connection with the running of vehicles in that length of road;
(c)a person engaged in, or in connection with, the carrying out in that length of road of repairs which it is necessary to carry out forthwith; or
(d)a person engaged in carrying out, by virtue of the provisions of this Act relating to workmen’s inspections or of any such agreement as is mentioned in those provisions, an inspection at the mine.
(1)Subject to any exceptions for which provision may be made by regulations, the manager of a mine shall not permit vehicles (not being vehicles moved by hand) to run in any length of road in the mine unless there are provided in that length of road (except in so much, if any, of it as is within [F123 metres] of a working face served by it), at intervals not greater than such as may be prescribed and in the prescribed positions, refuge holes each of which is of such dimensions as may be prescribed and complies with such other requirements as may be prescribed.
(2)Every refuge hole for the time being provided in a length of road in a mine for the purpose of enabling the manager of the mine, without contravention of the foregoing subsection, to permit vehicles to run in that length of road shall be kept free from obstruction.
(3)In this section the expression “working face” does not include a place in a road at which ripping or work of repair is in progress.
(1)So long as vehicles are used in a mine, there shall be provided, maintained and used, either in the mine or on the vehicles or both in the mine and on the vehicles, such safety devices as are necessary to prevent the occurrence of accidents likely to cause bodily injury to persons, being accidents caused by vehicles so used running away; and every device provided in pursuance of this subsection shall be of a kind designed to assume automatically the position in which it operates for the purpose for which it is designed, save in a case where there is good reason for not providing a device of that kind.
(2)In addition to the provision, in pursuance of the foregoing subsection, of such safety devices as are therein mentioned, there shall be taken, as respects a person who, otherwise than as a matter of routine, is at work at a place in a mine through which vehicles are running or are accustomed to run, such steps as are necessary to protect him from bodily injury in the event of a vehicle’s running away while he is at work at that place.
(1)No mechanically or gravity operated winding apparatus with which a mine shaft or staple-pit is provided and no mechanically or gravity operated rope haulage apparatus at a mine shall be operated on any occasion when persons are carried by means thereof except by a competent . . . F1person who has attained the age of twenty-two years appointed by the manager of the mine to operate it on such an occasion; and accordingly it shall be the duty of the manager of every mine to appoint such number (if any) of competent . . . F1persons as may be sufficient to secure compliance with the foregoing provisions of this subsection.
(2)It shall be the duty of the manager of every mine to and from which persons gain ingress and egress by being carried through a shaft or unwalkable outlet by means of mechanically or gravity operated winding or rope haulage apparatus, or in which persons gain access to a part thereof by being carried through a staple-pit by means of mechanically or gravity operated winding apparatus, to make, and to secure the efficient carrying out of, arrangements whereby, so long as any person is below ground in the mine who it is intended should come out through that shaft, outlet or staple-pit, a person appointed under this section is in attendance at the mine for the purpose of operating the apparatus aforesaid provided for carrying persons through that shaft or outlet or, as the case may be, that staple-pit.
(3)An inspector may serve on the manager of a mine a notice requiring him to secure that, at such times as may be specified in the notice, a person who, in pursuance of arrangements made under the last foregoing subsection, is in attendance at the mine is not charged with the duty of operating more than one set of mechanically or gravity operated winding or rope haulage apparatus.
(4) . . . F2, no person appointed under this section shall be employed at a mine of coal, stratified ironstone, shale or fireclay for more than eight hours in any day on which his duties consist of, or include, the operation, when persons are carried by means thereof, of mechanically or gravity operated winding apparatus with which a shaft is provided, . . . F2
F1Word repealed by Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), ss. 9(1), 29(4), Sch. 7 Part II
F2Words repealed by S.I. 1974/2013, Sch. 1 Pt. I
C1By S.I. 1993/302 regs. 1, 22(2), it is provided (1.4.1993 except in so far as those regulations apply to mines of tin or tin ore and 1.1.1996 in so far as they do apply to mines of tin or tin ore) that s. 42 shall cease to have effect in relation to shafts (as defined in reg. 2(1) of those regulations).
F1(1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(2)No mechanically or gravity operated rope haulage apparatus at a mine shall be operated on any such occasion as aforesaid except by, or under the constant supervision of, a competent . . . F2person who has attained the age of eighteen years.
F1S. 43(1) repealed (1.4.1993 except in so far as the amending regulations apply to mines of tin or tin ore and 1.1.1996 in so far as they do apply to mines of tin or tin ore), by 1993/302, regs. 1, 22(1) Sch.1.
F2Word repealed by Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), ss. 9(1), 29(4), Sch. 7 Part II
No conveyor shall be operated along a working face in a mine except by, or under the constant supervision of, a competent . . . F1person who has attained the age of eighteen years.
F1Word repealed by Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), ss. 9(1), 29(4), Sch. 7 Part II
(1)There shall be provided and maintained—
F1(a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(b)in connection with every unwalkable outlet at a mine, being an outlet which is provided with rope haulage apparatus and in the case of which the distance between the terminal surface entrance thereto and the terminal underground entrance thereto exceeds [F215 metres], effective means of transmitting audible and visible signals from each entrance to the outlet for the time being in use to the place at which the haulage apparatus is operated;
. . . F3
(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F4
(3)For the purposes of this section—
F1(a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(b)the expression “entrance”, in relation to an outlet, includes any place at which vehicles stop for the purpose of loading or unloading; and
(c)the expressions “terminal surface entrance” and “terminal underground entrance”, in relation to an outlet, mean, respectively, the surface entrance thereto or, if there is more than one, that one for the time being in use which is furthest from the point at which the outlet reaches the surface and the underground entrance thereto for the time being in use which is furthest from that point.
F1S. 45(1)(a)(3)(a) repealed (1.4.1993 except in so far as the amending regulations apply to mines of tin or tin ore and 1.1.1996 in so far as they do apply to mines of tin or tin ore) by S.I. 1993/302, regs. 1, 22(1), Sch.1.
F2Words substituted by S.I. 1976/2063, Sch. Pt. I
F3Words repealed by S.I. 1974/2013, Sch. 1 Pt. I
F4Ss. 38, 45(2), 47 repealed by S.I. 1974/2013, Sch. 1 Pt. I
Where rope haulage apparatus or a conveyor is installed in a road in a mine or is so installed at a mine as to permit of its operation in a road therein, then, if the length of the part of that road through which vehicles can move as part of that apparatus or, as the case may be, through which loads can be carried by means of that conveyor, exceeds [F125 metres], there shall be provided and maintained effective means of transmitting signals from every point throughout that part of that road, to the place at which the apparatus or, as the case may be, the conveyor is operated.
F1Ss. 49(3), 50 repealed by S.I. 1974/2013, Sch. 1 Pt. I and by S.I. 1999/2463, reg. 18(1)
(1)It shall be the duty of the manager of every mine to take such steps as are necessary for securing that there is constantly produced in all parts of the mine below ground ventilation adequate for the following purposes, namely,—
(a)diluting gases that are inflammable or noxious so as to render them harmless and removing them; and
(b)providing air containing a sufficiency of oxygen.
(2)Without prejudice to the general application of the foregoing subsection,—
(a)ventilation produced in a part of a mine shall be deemed for the purposes of that subsection not to be adequate for the purpose of diluting carbon dioxide so as to render it harmless unless the amount thereof in the general body of the air in that part of the mine is not more than one and a quarter per cent. by volume or, if a smaller percentage by volume is prescribed, that smaller percentage;
(b)ventilation produced in a part of a mine shall be deemed for the purposes of that subsection not to be adequate for the purpose of providing air containing a sufficiency of oxygen unless the amount of oxygen in the general body of the air in that part of the mine is not less than nineteen per cent. by volume;
. . . F1
(3)In the discharge of the duty imposed on him by subsection (1) of this section, the manager of a mine shall have regard to the desirability of securing (consistently with the discharge of that duty) the maintenance in the mine of working conditions that are reasonable so far as regards the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere and the amount of dust therein.
(4)Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall be construed as requiring the production of ventilation—
(a)in a part of a mine which is stopped off in a prescribed manner or in such other manner as may be approved by an inspector by notice served on the manager of the mine or is stowed up;
(b)in any waste; or
(c)in any such other part of a mine as may be prescribed.
(5)Where, in any part of a mine required by the foregoing provisions of this section to be ventilated, the ventilation is interrupted or ceases to be adequate for the purposes mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, it shall be the duty of the manager of the mine to secure that, until the ventilation is restored, access to that part of the mine is so restricted as to prevent from entering it any person not authorised to do so and no person is permitted to remain in or pass through it except for the purpose of restoring the ventilation or in a case of emergency.
(1)This section applies to waste other than—
(a)waste which is—
(i)stopped off in a prescribed manner or in such other manner as may be approved by an inspector by notice served on the manager of the mine in which it is contained; or
(ii)stowed up; or
(b)waste, other than as aforesaid, with respect to which it is known that there is therein—
(i)no inflammable gas; and
(ii)either no noxious gas or no noxious gas in a dangerous concentration.
(2)It shall be the duty of the manager of every mine which contains any waste to which this section applies to secure either—
(a)that there is constantly produced in that waste ventilation adequate for the purposes mentioned in subsection (1) of the last foregoing section; or
(b)that appropriate steps are taken for the purpose of minimising dangerous emissions from that waste of inflammable or noxious gas.
(3)Subsection (2) of the last foregoing section shall, with any requisite modifications, apply for the purposes of paragraph (a) of the last foregoing subsection as it applies for the purposes of subsection (1) of that section.
(1)Unless, in all parts of a mine that are required by section fifty-five of this Act to be ventilated, ventilation adequate for the purposes specified in subsection (1) of that section is provided wholly by natural means, there shall be provided and maintained on the surface of the mine mechanically operated apparatus capable of producing in all those parts of the mine an amount of ventilation sufficient (apart from any ventilation produced by any mechanically operated apparatus below ground) to enable all the persons who are below ground in the mine at any one time to leave it safely; and any apparatus provided in pursuance of this subsection shall, if it is not normally used to produce ventilation, be used once at least in each week and be kept constantly available for use.
(2)Where (whether in pursuance of the foregoing subsection or not) there is provided on the surface of a mine of coal mechanically operated apparatus for producing ventilation below ground in the mine, then, unless that apparatus is so designed or adapted, and is so installed, as to permit of its operation both by way of forcing air into, and by way of exhausting air from, the mine, there shall be provided in association with that apparatus, maintained and kept constantly available for use, adequate means for reversing the direction of flow of the ventilation produced by that apparatus.
(3)Regulations may—
(a)exempt any prescribed class of mines from the provisions of subsection (1) of this section;
(b)exempt any prescribed class of mines of coal from the provisions of subsection (2) of this section;
and an inspector may, by notice served on the manager of a particular mine other than of coal, exempt the mine from the provisions of the said subsection (1) and may, by notice served on the manager of a particular mine of coal, exempt the mine from the provisions of either or both of those subsections:
Provided that no exemption shall be granted by regulations made by virtue of this subsection unless the Minister is satisfied that no persons employed in mines of the class to which the regulations apply will be exposed to undue risk in consequence of the granting of the exemption, and no exemption shall be granted under this subsection by an inspector in the case of a particular mine unless he is satisfied that no persons employed in that mine will be exposed to undue risk in consequence of the granting of the exemption.
(4)It shall not be lawful to use a fire for ventilation in a mine or, except with the consent of an inspector, given by notice served on the manager of the mine, to release in a mine compressed air for the purpose thereby of diluting or removing inflammable or noxious gas.
(1)Where, of any two lengths of different passages in a mine of coal, stratified ironstone, shale or fireclay, one is made after the commencement of this Act (whatever the date of the making of, or of any part of, the other), then, unless there is (without any steps being taken for the purpose of minimising the leakage of air between them) no, or no appreciable, leakage of air between them, it shall not be lawful to use one as, or as part of, an intake airway and the other as, or as part of, a return airway unless such steps are taken as are necessary for the purpose of minimising the leakage of air between them:
Provided that nothing in the foregoing provisions of this subsection shall render unlawful the use as, or as part of, an airway of so much of any passage in a mine as lies within the relevant distance from a working face to which air is supplied or from which air is drawn off through that airway.
(2)For the purposes of the proviso to the foregoing subsection—
(a)the expression “relevant distance” means, in relation to a working face in a mine, four hundred and fifty feet (measured from any point on that face in a straight line on any plane) or such other distance, so measured (whether greater or less than [F1150 metres], as may, in any particular case, be determined by an inspector by notice served on the manager of the mine; and
(b)the expression “working face” does not include a place in a road at which ripping or work of repair is in progress.