West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 38 - Mining And Reclamation › Title 38 - LEGISLATIVE RULE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION MINING AND RECLAMATION › Series 38-07 - Rules And Regulations Governing Open Pit Mines And Underground Limestone And Sandstone Mines › Section 38-7-5 - Explosives and Blasting

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
5.01.
				Permissible explosives applicable to local conditions shall be used
				exclusively.
5.02. Underground
				storage of explosives and detonators shall be in approved magazines.
5.03. Primers shall not be made up until the
				charge is ready to be inserted into the hole. All holes, or series of holes,
				containing electric detonators shall be fired immediately after being charged
				or at end of shift: Provided, however, that if, for any reason, the holes
				cannot be fired immediately or at end of the shift, all work shall cease within
				a radius of 200 feet of blast area, and work shall not cammence again until the
				holes have been fired. This rule does not apply if primacord is used.
5.04. Frozen explosives shall not be
				used.
5.05. The shot firer shall
				wait 15 minutes before returning to a misfired shot, except when using an
				electric blasting cap.
5.06. Extra
				precaution shall be taken in recovering the explosive and blasting cap from a
				misfired shot.
5.07. Immediately
				after each blast the shot firing cables shall be disconnected from the blasting
				unit and shunted.
5.08. The roads
				and entrances to any mine shall be barricaded and guarded where such roads or
				entrances to said mine are located within 1,000 feet of a blast. Homes within
				1,000 feet shall be notified by a prearranged plan.
5.09. Explosives shall not. be handled or
				used during an electrical storm.
5.10. Underground magazines shall be located
				at least three hundred (300) feet from the face and roadway and out of the line
				of blasting.
5.11. The maximum
				quantity of explosives and detonators stored underground at any time shall not
				exceed the amount required for one shift.
5.12. Trailer vans may be used for the
				temporary storing of explosives: Provided, however, that it is located in
				accordance with the American Table of Distances to inhabited buildings,
				passenger railroads and public highways. The trailer van shall be provided with
				substantial means for locking, and the doors shall be kept locked, except for
				the placement and removal of stock.
5.13. Underground temporary magazines shall
				be constructed to the standard of surface magazines.
5.14. When explosives and detonators are
				transported underground they shall be handled in either the original unopened
				cases or in special closed cases constructed of nonconductive material. Prills
				shall be in the original bag or box.
5.15. Explosives and detonators shall not be
				transported on drill trucks or scale cars. When explosives and detonators are
				transported in the same container, they shall be separated by a four inch
				hardwood partition or the equivalent; bodies of trucks transporting explosives
				shall be lined with nonconductive material.
5.16. Only competent persons designated by
				management shall handle explosives and do blasting.
5.17. Drill holes shall be cleaned off
				cuttings before being charged.
5.18. Ample warning shall be given and care
				taken that all persons are in the clear before firing any shot.
5.19. Shots shall not be fired if any place
				known to liberate explosive gas until such place has been properly examined by
				a competent person designated by a mine management for that purpose.
5.20. Shots shall not be fired in any place
				where gas is detected with a permissible flame safety lamp until such gas has
				been removed.
5.21. After firing a
				shot, the shot firer, or any other person, shall not return to the working face
				until the smoke has cleared. A careful examination of the face, pillars and
				roof shall be made before-any work is performed.
5.22. The number of holes fired in any one
				round shall not exceed the limit of the permissible firing unit used.
5.23. The shot firing circuit shall be tested
				with a galvanometer before firing.
5.24. While underground bore holes are being
				charged, equipment shall not be operated in the immediate area.
5.25. All underground shooting shall be done
				at the end of the working shift.
5.26. Two-way radios on motor vehicles shall
				not be used in a mine while shots are being loaded.
5.27. Tamping poles shall be made of wood or
				other nonsparkable material.
5.28.
				Shooting stations shall be kept locked when not in use and only authorized
				persons shall have the keys.
5.29
				Prill loading machines shall be of an approved type and equipped with static
				strip hose and grounded.
5.30
				Mudcaps (adobes) may be used in taking down loose slabs from roof and
				pillars.
5.31 When caps and fuses
				are used, an approved cap crimper shall be used.
5.32 When shots are fired by means of caps
				and fuses, two or more persons shall do the firing.
5.33 Premised ammonia nitrate and prills are
				classified as explosives and shall be handled and stored as such.
5.34 Only electric detonators of proper
				strength shall be used and they must be fired with permissible shot firing
				units.