HEALTH AND SAFETY Citation and commencement 1 These Regulations may be cited as The Mines Miscellaneous Health and Safety Provisions Regulations 1995 and shall come into force on 26th October 1995. Interpretation 2 1 In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires— “the 1954 Act ” means the Mines and Quarries Act 1954 ; “the 1992 Regulations ” means the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 ; “the 1993 Regulations ” means the Management and Administration of Safety and Health at Mines Regulations 1993 ; “approved” means approved for the time being in writing by the Executive and “approve” and “approval” shall be construed accordingly; “employer” includes the owner if he employs persons at work at the mine; “the Executive” means the Health and Safety Executive; “gas outburst” means a sudden release of gas with or without the projection of minerals or rocks; “the health and safety document” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 4; “hydraulic fluid” means a fluid used for the transmission of hydrostatic or hydrokinetic mechanical energy; “manager” means— the person appointed as the manager of the mine under regulation 8 of the 1993 Regulations; and in relation to a part of a mine, the person appointed as the manager of that part under regulation 15 of the 1993 Regulations; “mine” means a mine within the meaning of the 1954 Act; “owner” means an owner within the meaning of section 181 of the 1954 Act; “rockburst” means a sudden failure of stopes, pillars, walls or other rock buttresses adjacent to or in the mine workings. 2 In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires— a a reference to a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation or Schedule in these Regulations so numbered; and b a reference to a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph so numbered in the regulation or Schedule in which that reference occurs. Application 3 1 Save where the contrary intention appears, these Regulations shall apply to all mines. 2 These Regulations shall apply to a self-employed person as they apply to an employer and as if that self-employed person were both an employer and a person at work. The health and safety document 4 1 The owner of every mine shall ensure that no work shall be 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 work at the mine are exposed have been assessed in accordance with regulation 3 of the 1992 Regulations; b demonstrates that adequate measures, including measures concerning the design, use and maintenance of the mine and its equipment, have been and will continue to be taken to safeguard the health and safety of the persons at work; and c includes a statement of how the measures referred to in sub-paragraph (b) will be co-ordinated. 2 In addition to the matters referred to in paragraph (1), the health and safety document shall where appropriate also include— a a plan detailing the equipment and measures required to protect persons at work at the mine from the risk of explosion; b a fire protection plan detailing the likely sources of fire, and the precautions to be taken to protect against, to detect and combat the outbreak and spread of fire; c 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 of persons at work, a plan detailing the protective equipment and measures required to protect persons at work at the mine from the harmful atmosphere; and d in any zone below ground where rockbursts or gas outbursts may occur an operating plan setting out as far as possible the susceptible zones and the measures necessary for the protection of persons at work in, approaching or traversing such zones. 3 The owner shall ensure that the health and safety document is— a kept up to date and revised where necessary including, without limitation, if the mine undergoes major changes (including natural changes), extensions or conversions; and b made available to each employer of persons at work at the mine. 4 The owner shall ensure that the measures identified in the health and safety document are taken and that any plans included in that document are followed. Co-ordination 5 The owner shall co-ordinate the implementation of all measures relating to the health and safety of the persons at work at the mine. Additional health and safety requirements 6 1 Subject to paragraph (2), a every employer of persons at work at a mine shall ensure that the additional health and safety requirements set out in Part I of Schedule 1; and b every owner of a mine shall ensure that the additional health and safety requirements set out in Part II of Schedule 1, are in each case complied with as appropriate having regard to the features of the mine, to the nature and circumstances of the work carried on there and to the provisions of the health and safety document. 2 The additional health and safety provisions referred to in paragraph (1) shall apply without prejudice to the requirements of the relevant statutory provisions relating to the mine. Health surveillance 7 1 An employer of a person at work at a mine shall ensure that he is provided with such health surveillance as is appropriate; and where that person is assigned to the work after the date of coming into force of these Regulations, the health surveillance shall be commenced before he is so assigned. 2 In this regulation “appropriate” means appropriate having regard to the nature and magnitude of the risks to the health and safety of the persons created by the relevant work. Hydraulic fluids 8 1 Subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) the manager of every mine shall ensure so far as is reasonably practicable that only hydraulic fluids which are both difficult to ignite and satisfy any specifications relating to fire resistance and hygiene approved for the purposes of this regulation are used at the mine. 2 Where it is not reasonably practicable to use hydraulic fluids which satisfy the requirements of paragraph (1) the manager shall ensure that appropriate action is taken to avoid any increased risk of fire resulting from the use of the hydraulic fluid. Disapplication of section 157 of the 1954 Act 9 Section 157 of the 1954 Act (which provides a defence in legal proceedings and prosecutions in certain circumstances) shall not apply in relation to any prosecutions or other legal proceedings based on an allegation of a contravention of a requirement or prohibition imposed by these Regulations. Modifications 10 The provisions of the instruments specified in column 1 of Schedule 2 shall be modified to the extent specified in the corresponding entry in column 2 of that Schedule. Revocations 11 The Coal and other Mines (Working Plans) Rules 1956 and the Coal and other Mines (Abandonment Plans) Rules 1956 are hereby revoked. Signed by authority of the Secretary of State David Curry Minister of State, Department of the Environment 26th July 1995