The Explosives Regulations 2014

Application and extent U.K.

3.—(1) Except as provided by paragraphs (2) and (3), these Regulations extend to England and Wales and Scotland.

(2) In Schedule 13—

(a) the amendments made by paragraphs 16, 20 and 30 extend to Scotland only; and

(b) the amendments made by paragraphs 11 and 14 extend to England and Wales only.

(3) Regulation 29 extends to Northern Ireland M1 in so far it applies to the importation of pyrotechnic articles and substances.

[F1 (4) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, these Regulations apply—

(a) within Great Britain, and

(b) except for regulations 4, 5, 31 and 32, outside Great Britain as sections 1 to 59 and 80 to 82 of the 1974 Act apply by virtue of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Application outside Great Britain) order 2013.]

(5) In Schedule 13—

(a) the amendments made by paragraph 14(2) and (4) apply in relation to England only; and

(b) the amendments made by paragraph 14(3) and (5) of that Schedule apply in relation to Wales only.

(6) Regulations 4, 5, 11, 19, 21, 22, 31, 32, 35 and 37 do not apply to any explosive nuclear device.

(7) Regulation 5 does not apply to the acquisition or keeping of explosives by or on behalf of—

(a) any officer referred to in section 74 of the Explosives Act 1875 M2 exercising the power of seizure under that section;

(b) constables acting in the execution of their duties;

(c) a person—

(i) appointed to assist a police force as mentioned in paragraph 4(2) of Schedule 2 to the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011(civilian staff); or

(ii) appointed to assist a police force as mentioned in section 26 of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 (police staff),

who, in either case, is duly authorised in writing by the chief officer of police for the relevant police area;

(d) customs officers acting in the performance of their functions;

(e) the Crown, in respect of any explosive which—

(i) is in premises occupied on behalf of the Crown for, or

(ii) is intended for use for,

naval, military or air force purposes or the purposes of the department of the Secretary of State having responsibility for defence or that of the Secretary of State having responsibility for home affairs;

(f) the service authorities of visiting forces or any headquarters or organisation designated for the purposes of the International Headquarters and Defence Organisations Act 1964 M3 ;

(g) a police force;

(h) the Executive; or

(i) the ONR.

(8) Regulations 6, 7, 9, 10, 12 to 18, 20, 23 and 26 to 30 do not apply to—

(a) any activity to which [F2 Part 5 of the Dangerous Goods In Harbour Areas Regulations 2016 applies];

(b) any activity to which the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009 M4 apply, apart from any activity which is to be treated as storage by virtue of regulation 2(6);

(c) the master or crew of a ship or to the employer of such persons in respect of the normal shipboard activities of a ship's crew which are carried out solely by the crew under the direction of the master and in this sub-paragraph the reference to the normal shipboard activities of a ship's crew includes —

(i) the construction, reconstruction or conversion of a ship outside, but not inside, Great Britain; and

(ii) the repair of a ship save repair when carried out in dry dock;

(d) the transport of explosives by air;

(e) an offshore installation within the meaning of regulation 3 of the Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995 M5 ;

F3 (f) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(9) Regulations 6, 7, 12 to 14, 16 to 18, 20, 23 and 27 do not apply to the manufacture or storage of explosives, at any site under the control of the Secretary of State having responsibility for defence, or held for the purposes of a visiting force or headquarters, under a scheme approved by that Secretary of State which—

(a) provides for their safe manufacture and storage; and

(b) prescribes —

(i) separation distances, or

(ii) a combination of separation distances and other safety measures, which are designed to ensure a standard of safety which is equivalent to that ensured by the separation distances prescribed by regulation 27 and Schedule 5.

(10) Regulations 6, 7, 12 to 14, 16 to 18, 20, 23 [F4 , 27] and 29 do not apply to explosives—

(a) seized by constables acting in the execution of their duties,

(b) received by a police force from a member of the public; or

(c) which, for reasons of public safety or protection of property, are undergoing ordnance disposal by—

(i) persons under the direction of a member of Her Majesty's Forces or civilian employees of the department of the Secretary of State having responsibility for defence authorised in writing by that Secretary of State to carry out ordnance disposal; or

(ii) persons under the direction of a constable or authorised in writing by the chief officer of police to carry out ordnance disposal.

(11) Regulation 7 does not apply to—

(a) the Executive;

(b) the ONR;

(c) a local authority;

(d) the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs;

(e) a police force;

(f) a person appointed to assist a police force as mentioned in paragraph 4(2) of Schedule 2 to the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 M6 (civilian staff) who is duly authorised in writing by the chief officer of police to store explosives; and

(g) a person appointed to assist a police force as mentioned in section 26 of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 M7 (police staff) who is duly authorised in writing by the chief officer of police to store explosives.

(12) Regulations 7, 12 to 14, 16 to 18, 20, 23, 27, 29 and 30 do not apply to explosives seized by an inspector appointed under section 19 of the 1974 Act in the performance of the inspector's functions.

(13) Regulations 7 and 30 do not apply to—

(a) constables in the execution of their duties;

(b) customs officers in the performance of their functions; or

(c) inspectors appointed under section 19 of the 1974 Act in the performance of their functions.

(14) Regulations 8 and [F5 39 to 77] do not apply in respect of the transfer of civil explosives to, by or on behalf of, or where, following the transfer, the explosives are in the possession of—

(a) a person exercising a power of seizure under section 74 of the Explosives Act 1875;

(b) constables acting in the execution of their duties;

(c) a person appointed to assist a police force as mentioned in paragraph 4(2) of Schedule 2 to the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (civilian staff) who is duly authorised in writing by the chief officer of police in respect of such transfer or possession;

(d) a person appointed to assist a police force as mentioned in section 26 of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 (police staff) who is duly authorised in writing by the chief officer of police in respect of such transfer or possession;

(e) customs officers acting in the performance of their functions;

(f) the Crown in respect of any civil explosives which are intended for use for the purposes of the department of the Secretary of State having responsibility for defence or that of the Secretary of State having responsibility for home affairs;

(g) inspectors appointed under section 19 of the 1974 Act exercising their power to take possession of and detain articles or substances under section 20(2)(i) of that Act as modified by Schedule 12 to these Regulations;

(h) the Executive; or

(i) the ONR.

(15) Regulations 33, 34 and 36 do not apply to—

(a) an explosive which is transported and delivered without packaging or in a mobile explosives manufacturing unit for its direct unloading into the blast-hole;

[F6 (aa) an explosive manufactured at a blasting site that is loaded immediately after being produced;]

(b) fuses, which are cord-like non-detonating igniting devices;

(c) safety fuses, which consist of a core of fine grained black powder surrounded by a flexible woven fabric with one or more protective outer coverings and which, when ignited, burn at a predetermined rate without any external explosive effect; or

(d) cap-type primers, which consist of a metal or plastic cap containing a small amount of primary explosive mixture that is readily ignited by impact and which serve as igniting elements in small arms cartridges or in percussion primers for propelling charges.

F7 (16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F7 (17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F7 (18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F1 Reg. 3(4) substituted (20.4.2016) by The Explosives Regulations 2014 (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/315), regs. 1, 5(a) (with regs. 2(1), 15)

F2 Words in reg. 3(8) substituted (1.10.2016) by The Dangerous Goods in Harbour Areas Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/721), reg. 1, Sch. 5 para. 12(b) (with reg. 5)

F3 Reg. 3(8)(f) revoked (6.4.2015) by The Mines Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/3248), reg. 1(2), Sch. 4 Pt. 2 (with reg. 1(3))

F4 Word in reg. 3(10) inserted (6.4.2015) by The Mines Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/3248), reg. 1(2), Sch. 5 para. 18(b) (with reg. 1(3))

F5 Words in reg. 3(14) substituted (20.4.2016) by The Explosives Regulations 2014 (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/315), regs. 1, 5(b) (with regs. 2(1), 15)

F6 Reg. 3(15)(aa) inserted (20.4.2016) by The Explosives Regulations 2014 (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/315), regs. 1, 5(c) (with regs. 2(1), 15)

F7 Reg. 3(16)-(18) omitted (20.4.2016) by virtue of The Explosives Regulations 2014 (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/315), regs. 1, 5(d) (with regs. 2(1), 15)

Marginal Citations

M1 By virtue of section 84(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Parts I and IV of that Act extend to Northern Ireland “so far as may be necessary to enable regulations under section 15 to be made and operate for the purposes mentioned in paragraph 2 of Schedule 3. That paragraph includes, as a subject matter for such regulations, prohibiting the import into the United Kingdom of articles or substances of any specified description.

M2 1875 c.17 (38 & 39 Vict); section 74 was amended by S.I. 1974/1885 and by the Energy Act 2013 (c. 32), Schedule 12, Part 5, paragraphs 50 and 52.

M3 1964 c. 5.

M4 S.I. 2009/1348, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

M5 S.I. 1995/738, amended by S.I. 2002/2175; there are other amending instruments but none is relevant.

M6 2011 c.13.

M7 2012 asp 8.