34.—(1) The mine operator shall obtain, so far as is reasonably practicable, all the information which indicates, or tends to indicate, the presence or absence of a potentially hazardous area in the vicinity of any working being carried on, or proposed to be carried on, in the mine.
(2) The mine operator shall ensure that no working is undertaken in the mine in the vicinity of a body of surface water until—
(a)such steps are taken as may be necessary to ascertain the total thickness of the strata lying between the working and the surface water; and
(b)the mine operator is satisfied that the strata are sufficiently reliable to prevent an inrush of water from the surface.
(3) In this regulation—
(a)“body of surface water” means the sea, a lake or river, or any other body of surface water (whether accumulated naturally or not); and
(b)“potentially hazardous area” means—
(i)any disused workings (whether mine workings or not);
(ii)any rock or stratum containing or likely to contain water (whether dispersed or in natural cavities);
(iii)any peat, moss, sand, gravel, silt, or other material that flows or is likely to flow when wet; and
(iv)any body of surface water.