Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 January 2018
324. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the position regarding blasting of rock with explosives in quarries; the guidelines issued to the relevant persons in relation to overseeing these matters; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4369/18]
View answerAll mining or quarrying for scheduled minerals requires either a Lease under the Minerals Development Act 1940 for minerals in State ownership, or a Licence under the 1979 Minerals Development Act for privately owned minerals, both are issued by the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment.
Under the terms of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, the Health and Safety Authority is responsible for the enforcement of health and safety in the workplace.
Specific requirements relating to the quarrying sector were introduced through the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Quarries) Regulations 2008 (S.I. No. 28 of 2008). Under these Regulations the quarry owner must formally appoint an operator for the quarry. This Operator assumes certain responsibilities including the formal appointment by of explosive supervisors and shotfirers at the quarry.
Part 5 of Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Quarries) Regulations 2008 provides for specific responsibilities, the Operator of the Quarry, the Explosive Supervisor and the Shotfirer as set out below:-
- The Operator of the quarry has overall responsibility in relation to health and safety and he has a duty to ensure that only competent people are involved in blasting operations.
- The Operator has to appoint a competent Explosives Supervisor to oversee blasting operations at the quarry and a competent Shotfirer to carry out blasting operations at the quarry. The Explosives Supervisor and the Shotfirer can be one and the same person and where the Operator is himself competent he can appoint himself to these roles.
- The Explosives Supervisor and the Shotfirer must each hold the relevant registration card issued by SOLAS in pursuant to paragraph (3) and Schedule 1 under the Quarries Skills Certification Scheme.
- Before any blasting operations can take place the Operator must prepare, of have prepared shotfiring rules specific to the quarry which set out the procedures for the following:-
(a) shotfiring operations at the quarry,
(b) appointing Explosives Supervisors, Shotfirers, Trainee Shotfirers and Storekeepers,
(c) authorising other persons who will be involved with the storage, transport, use or disposal of explosives,
(d) dealing with misfires,
(e) disposing of surplus explosives, detonators, accessories and packaging
- The Operator has a duty to ensure that the Explosives Supervisor prepares an adequate written blast specification for each particular blast that identifies the danger zone to ensure the shotfiring operations do not give rise to danger.
- The Explosives Supervisor and Shotfirer organise and supervise all work involving the storage, transport, use and disposal of explosives at the quarry and must ensure that no person carries out any work in relation to explosives unless they are trained, adequately supervised and instructed to do so.
- The Shotfirer must ensure that no one is within the danger zone when blasting is to take place and must ensure that a warning signal is given before the blast is initiated.
- The legal requirements of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Quarries) Regulations 2008 are further supported by guidance prepared by the Health and Safety Authority, ‘Safe Quarry Guidelines to the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Quarries) Regulations 2008-Part 5’, these guidelines were developed with the assistance and advice of a Working Group on Quarrying Safety, representative of a wide range of interests in the quarrying industry and are available from the Health and Safety Authority’s website (www.hsa.ie).
- The remit of the Health and Safety Authority does not extend to potential environmental issues associated with blasting that may occur at individual quarries. Such issues could include Air Over-Pressure, Noise, Dust and Ground Vibration are a matter for the relevant Local Authority where maximum levels would be set as part of the planning and licensing processes.
