2023 Oklahoma Statutes › Title 45. Mines and Mining › §45-901. Definitions.

As used in this act:
1. "Active workings" means any place in a mine where miners are normally required to work or travel;
2. "American table of distances" means the 1971 edition of "The American Table of Distances for Storage of Explosives" published by the Institute of Makers of Explosives;
3. "ANFO" means ammonium nitrate fuel oil mixtures;
4. "Approved" means tested and accepted for a specific purpose by a nationally recognized safety agency;
5. "Barricaded" means obstructed to restrict the passage of persons, vehicles or flying materials;
6. "Berm" means a pile or mound of material capable of restraining a vehicle; also a shelf, ledge or material placed to contain loose slope material;
7. "Blasting agent" means a cap insensitive chemical composition or mixture consisting of fuel and oxidizer and no explosive ingredient but which can be made to detonate when initiated with a high strength explosive primer;
8. "Blasting area" means the area near blasting operations in which concussion or flying material can reasonably be expected to cause injury;
9. "Blasting cap" means a detonator containing a charge of detonating compound which is ignited by electric current or the spark of a fuse and is used for detonating explosives;
10. "Blasting circuit" means electric current used to fire electric detonators or to ignite an igniter cord by means of an electric starter;
11. "Box-type magazine" means a small, portable magazine used to store limited quantities of explosives or detonators for short periods of time in locations at the mine which are convenient to the blasting sites at which they will be used;
12. "Capped fuse" means a length of safety fuse to which a detonator has been attached;
13. "Capped primer" means a package or cartridge of explosives which is specifically designed to transmit detonation to other explosives and which contains a detonator;
14. "Certified person" means an individual who has satisfactorily passed the required State Mining Board examination, thereby earning a certificate of competency which will allow him to work in a particular position for which certification is necessary;
15. "Combustible" means capable of being ignited and consumed by fire;
16. "Commercial mine" means any mine from which the product is mined for sale, exchange or commercial use. Except as the context requires otherwise, this act applies only to commercial mines;
17. "Company official" means a member of the company supervisory or technical staff;
18. "Department" means the State of Oklahoma Department of Mines;
19. "Detonator" means a device containing a small detonating charge that is used for detonating an explosive including, but not limited to, blasting caps, exploders, electric detonators and delay electric blasting caps;
20. "Distribution box" means a portable apparatus with an enclosure through which an electric circuit is carried to one (1) or more cables from a single incoming feedline, each cable circuit being connected through individual overcurrent protective devices;
21. "Electric blasting cap" means a blasting cap designed for and capable of being initiated by means of an electric current;
22. "Electric grounding" means to connect with the ground to make the earth part of the circuit;
23. "Employee" means a person who works for wages or salary in the service of an employer;
24. "Employer" means a person or organization employing one (1) or more persons to work for wages or salary;
25. "Explosive" means any chemical compound, mixture or device, the primary or common purpose of which is to function by explosion. Explosives include, but are not limited to, black powder, dynamite, nitroglycerin, fulminate and ammonium nitrate;
26. "Face" or "wall" means that part of any mine where excavating is progressing or was last done;
27. "Flammable" means capable of being easily ignited and of burning rapidly as defined by the National Fire Protection Association;
28. "Highway" means any public road or travelway used by the general public;
29. "Igniter cord" means a fuse, cordlike in appearance, which burns progressively along its length with an external flame at the zone of burning and is used for lighting a series of safety fuses in the desired sequence;
30. "Inhabited building" means a building regularly occupied in whole or in part as a habitation for human beings, or any church, schoolhouse, railroad station, store, factory or other structure where people are accustomed to assemble, except any building or structure occupied in connection with the manufacture, transportation, storage or use of explosives;
31. "Inspector" means a mine inspector in the employ of the State of Oklahoma;
32. "Magazine" means a storage place for explosives or detonators;
33. "Major electrical installation" means an assemblage of stationary electrical equipment for the generation, transmission, distribution or conversion of electric power;
34. "Misfire" means the complete or partial failure of a blasting charge to explode as planned;
35. "Overburden" means material of any nature, consolidated or unconsolidated, that overlies a deposit of useful materials or ores that are to be mined;
36. "Owner" means the owner, lessee, manager, superintendent, operator or agent, receiver or trustee operating any clay, coal or copper mine;
37. "Primer" or "booster" means a package or cartridge of explosives designed specifically to transmit detonation to other explosives but which does not contain a detonator;
38. "Reverse-current protection" means a method or device used on direct-current circuits of equipment to prevent the flow of current in the reverse direction;
39. "Roll protection" means a framework or safety canopy to protect the vehicle operator if equipment should overturn;
40. "Safety can" means an approved container of not over five (5) gallons capacity having a spring-closing lid and a spout cover;
41. "Safety fuse" means a train of powder enclosed in cotton, jute yarn and waterproofing compounds which burns at a uniform rate. It is used for firing a cap containing the detonating compound which in turn sets off the explosive charge;
42. "Safety switch" means a sectionalizing switch that also provides shunt protection in blasting circuits between the blasting switch and the shot area;
43. "Scaling" means removal of insecure material from a face or highwall;
44. "Secondary safety connection" means a second connection between a conveyance and rope, intended to prevent the conveyance from running away or falling in the event the primary connection fails;
45. "Semiconductive hose" means hose having an electrical resistance of not less than five thousand (5,000) ohms per foot and not more than two (2) megohms for its total length, used in pneumatic placement of blasting agents in boreholes;
46. "Sprung hole" means a blasting hole chambered or enlarged to take an increased charge of explosives;
47. "Stemming" means the inert material, and the placing of such material, on top of any charge of explosives;
48. "Stray current" means that portion of a total electric current that flows through paths other than the intended circuit;
49. "Strip or surface pit" means the excavation in which superincumbent strata are removed exposing the natural deposit so it may be excavated and loaded by hand or by mechanical equipment in open working. Strip or surface pits shall be subject to such mining laws of the State of Oklahoma as apply to them, and such operations shall comply with recommendations for safety of employees made by the Chief Mine Inspector;
50. "Substantial construction" means construction of such strength, material and workmanship that the object will withstand all reasonable shock, wear, usage and deterioration to which it will normally be subjected;
51. "Suitable" means that which fits and has the qualities or qualifications to normally meet a given purpose, occasion, condition, function or circumstance; 52. "Travelway" means a passage, walk or way regularly used and designated for persons to go from one place to another while at work;
53. Voltage:
a. "low voltage" means up to and including 660 volts,
b. "medium voltage" means from 661 to 1,000 volts, and
c. "high voltage" means more than 1,000 volts;
54. "Wet drilling" means the continuous application of water to the back or bottom of the drill holes while drilling; and
55. "Working place" means any place in or about a mine where work is being performed.
Laws 1978, c. 148, § 1, emerg. eff. April 7, 1978.