The Mines and Quarries Acts

There are also numerous by-laws and local requirements that can be applied by, for example. Port Authorities (ports). Harbour Authorities (coastal works), British Waterways (canals), and Local Authorities (inland lakes), depending on where the work is situated. Work in a water-filled quarry would also be subject to the Mines and Quarries Act. Different responsibilities apply to the different categories of personnel (see Box 2.1). The HSE (2002b) provides guidance on managing health and safety in dockwork. 

The law relating to safety and management in mines and quarries was examined in the 1950s and the principal Act is now the Mines and Quarries Act 1954. There is wide power to make regulations. Other Acts refer to work practices in agriculture, aviation and shipping. 

The main Acts laying down the general safety duties of mines and quarries personnel (i.e. owners, managers, undermanagers, surveyors and officials) are the Mines and Quarries Act 1954, the Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act 1969 and the Mines Management Act 1971 (the latter Act in particular and some sections of the 1954 Act will be revoked if the draft Management and Administration of Health and Safety in Mines Regulations are accepted). 

Examples include the Agriculture (Safety, Health and Welfare Provisions) Act 1956, The Mines and Quarries Act 1954, The Offices Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963 and The Nuclear Installations Act 1965. 

Regulation 28 abolishes the grounds for defence available under section 157 of the Mines and Quarries Act 1954 in respect of Regulations 18 to 27 and Schedule 1, and substitutes the due diligence defence grounds of Regulation 29. It is applicable only for criminal proceedings. 

The prindpal objective of a safe place strategy is that of bringing about a reduction in the objective danger to people at work. These strategies feature in much of the occupational health and safety legislation that has been enad-ed over the last century, such as the Factories Acts 1937 and 1961 (FA) the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963 (OSRPA) the Mines and Quarries Act 1954 and, more recently, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act... 

In Britain under the Factories Acts a fine of 300 can be imposed for any offence which could cause death or serious ipjury. There are other sanctions, such as imprisonment for a limited period for offences not directly connected with death or serious ipjury. Under the Mines and Quarries Act the penalty would be a monetary fine and/or three months imprisonment levied against an individual responsible for death or serious injury, or for any offence that could cause death or serious injury. 

It is commonly thought in the safety field in Britain that the people to educate are the parents, wives and children of those who go to work each day. In the construction industry in Britain on average one person is killed each working day. Under the Mines and Quarries Act if there is a mining disaster and a number of people are killed it becomes national and international news, and in... 

The requirements of this Act apply to sites, or parts of sites, that fall within the description of a quarry, as defined in s.lSOof the Act, the most common example being a borrow pit used in motorway construction, although it can also apply where old quarries are being in-filled with spoil. Enforcement of this Act is split between the Factory Inspectorate who cover building on the surface, and the Mines and Quarries Inspectorate who deal with work within the quarry itself. 

List of Principal Explosives used at Mines and Quarries in the United Kingdom under the Coal Mines Regulation Act, the Metalliferous Mines Act, and thf. Quarries Act, in 1909... 

In the main, the principal Act affecting the particular groups of persons, usually on the basis of the kind of premises in which they worked, was supplemented by regulations. The Act and its regulations would be enforced by a particular inspectorate (e.g. by factory inspectors for factories and notional factories such as construction sites, mines inspectors for mines and quarries and local authority inspectors for offices and shops). Any breach of the appropriate legislation could lead to a prosecution by an inspector which in turn could lead to a fine usually imposed on the company or other organisation rather than an individual. 

In the 1954 Act the safety, health and welfare provisions for the mines are given separately from those of quarries whilst common sections deal with workmen s inspections, employment of women and young persons, records and returns, and fencing of abandoned and disused mines and quarries. 

These regulations apply to types of premises (14 are listed) in which identified high-risk chemicals are used or stored, buildings subject to the Explosives Act 1875, surface buildings associated with mines and quarries, buildings associated with nuclear activities and construction huts. Essentially the regulations, which do not add any requirements not already specified in the FPA, transfer the responsibility for enforcement from the local fire authority to the HSE. 

Controlled waste is defined in the Controlled Waste Regulations 1992 and section 75 of the Environment Protection Act 1990 as wastes from households, commerce and industry. Wastes excluded from this definition include explosives, wastes from mines and quarries or agricultural... 

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