Kentucky Administrative Regulations › Title 805 - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT CABINET › Chapter 4 - Division of Explosives and Blasting › Section 805 KAR 4:125 - Firing the blast

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1, 2024
RELATES TO: KRS 351.330, 351.350, 351.990
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 351.335 requires the
				Department for Natural Resources to promulgate rules and administrative
				regulations concerning the manufacture, transportation, sale, storage, or use
				of explosives and unassembled components of explosives, and the maintenance of
				these explosives which have a direct bearing on safety to life and property.
				This administrative regulation establishes the safety procedures to be used
				prior to detonation of a blast, including warning signals, control of access to
				the blast area, and procedures for clearing the area around the blast.
Section 1. Firing the Blast.
(1) A code of blasting signals equivalent to
			 Table U-1 shall be posted at one (1) or more conspicuous places at the
			 operations, and all employees shall be required to familiarize themselves with
			 the code and conform to it. The blaster shall ensure that this code is
			 communicated clearly to all persons who may enter the danger zone surrounding
			 the blast area. Danger signs shall be placed at all entrances to the blast
			 area.
TABLE U-1
WARNING SIGNAL - A one (1) minute series of long blasts five
				(5) minutes prior to the blast signal. BLAST SIGNAL - A series of short blasts
				one (1) minute prior to the detonation. ALL CLEAR SIGNAL - A prolonged blast
				following the inspection of the blast area.
(2) The device used to issue the warning
			 signals shall be loud enough to be heard by all persons in the danger zone
			 around the blast, and shall have a sound distinctive enough to be readily
			 identified. Ordinary truck and automobile horns shall not be used as warning
			 signals.
(3) Before a blast is
			 fired, the blaster in charge shall:
(a) Make
			 certain that all surplus explosives are in a safe place;
(b) Make certain that all persons, vehicles,
			 and equipment are at a safe distance or under sufficient cover; and
(c) Give a loud warning signal.
(4) No person shall remain in an
			 area within the danger zone after being requested to leave by the blaster in
			 charge or by a state explosives and blasting inspector.
(5) Flagmen shall be safely stationed on
			 highways which pass through the danger zone to stop traffic during blasting
			 operations.
(6) It shall be the
			 duty of the blaster to fix the time of blasting and to determine the area
			 constituting the danger zone around the blast within which the warning signals
			 shall be audible.
(7) If necessary
			 for public safety, the department may require the blaster to submit a written
			 plan describing the warning signals, notification procedures, and access
			 control methods to be used on a particular blast site.
(8) Before firing an underground blast,
			 warning shall be given, and all possible entries into the blasting area and any
			 entrances to any working place where a drift, raise or other opening is about
			 to hole through, shall be carefully guarded. The blaster shall make sure that
			 all persons are out of the blast area before detonating a blast.