Explosives Act 1875

40 Modification of Part I. as applied to explosives other than gunpowder. U.K.

The following modifications and additions shall be made in and to Part One of this Act as applied to explosives other than gunpowder:

(1) The draft license for a factory or magazine submitted by an applicant to [F1 the Health and Safety Executive] shall specify such particulars as [F1 the Health and Safety Executive] may require; and

(2) The prescribed general rules shall be substituted for the general rules in Part One of this Act relating to factories, magazines, stores, and registered premises respectively; but no such general rule shall require the removal of any building or work in use at the date of the Order in Council by which such rule is made;

F2 [(3) The Secretary of State may from time to time alter the general rules relating to packing contained in Part One of this Act for the purpose of adapting the same to the packing of any explosive other than gunpowder; and]

(4) For the maximum amount limited by Part One of this Act to be kept [F3 for private use and not for sale, or] in a store, and for the minimum amount limited by Part One of this Act to be exposed for sale or sold otherwise than in a substantial case, box, canister, or other receptacle as therein mentioned, there shall be substituted in the case of explosives other than gunpowder the following amounts; namely,

(a) Where such explosive consists of safety cartridges made with gunpowder, an amount containing not more than five times the maximum or minimum amount of gunpowder, as the case may be, above mentioned; and

(b) In the case of any other explosive, the prescribed amount; and

(5) Two or more descriptions of explosives shall not be kept in the same store or registered premises except such descriptions as may be prescribed in that behalf; and, when so kept, shall be kept subject to the prescribed conditions and restrictions; and

(6) Where any explosive, other than gunpowder, is allowed to be kept in the same store or registered premises with gunpowder, the maximum amount of gunpowder to be kept therein shall be the prescribed amount in lieu of the amount fixed by Part One of this Act; and

(7) Where any explosive, other than gunpowder, is allowed to be kept in the same magazine, store, or registered premises with gunpowder, the prescribed general rules shall be observed instead of the general rules in Part One of this Act; and

(8) There shall be on the outermost package containing the explosive in lieu of the word “gunpowder” the name of the explosive, with the addition of the word “explosive,” and if such name is materially false the person selling or exposing for sale such explosive, and also the owner of the explosive, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds:

(9) With respect to the importation from any place out of the United Kingdom of either dynamite or gun–cotton, or any explosive (other than gunpowder, cartridges made with gunpowder, percussion caps, fireworks and any prescribed explosive), the following provisions shall have effect; that is to say,

(a) The owner and master of any ship having on board any such explosive shall not permit the same to be unloaded and delivered to any person who does not hold a license to import the same (in this Act called an importation license) from [F1 the Health and Safety Executive] , and any transhipment shall for the purpose of this section be deemed to be delivery; and

(b) [F1 The Health and Safety Executive] may grant an importation license for any such explosive, and may annex thereto any prohibitions and restrictions with respect to the composition and quality of the explosive, and the unloading, landing, delivery, and conveyance thereof, and such further provisions and restrictions as he may think fit, for the protection of the public from danger; and

(c) The license shall be of such duration as [F1 the Health and Safety Executive] may fix, and shall be available only for the person named in the license; and

(d) In the event of any breach (by any act or default) of the provisions of this section with respect to the importation of an explosive, or of the provisions of any importation license, all or any part of the explosive with respect to which such breach is committed, or being in any ship or boat in connexion with which such breach is committed, may be forfeited; and the owner and master of such ship or boat, and the licensee or person to whom the explosive is delivered, shall each be [F4 guilty of an offence and liable to the penalties specified in section 33(3) of the M1 Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.]

(e) [F5 The Commissioners of Customs and Excise] and their officers shall have the same power with respect to any such explosive, and the ship containing the same, as they have for the time being with respect to any article on the importation of which restrictions are for the time being imposed by the law relating to [F6 customs or excise] , and the ship containing the same, and the enactments for the time being in force relating to [F6 customs or excise] or any such article or ship shall apply accordingly.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words substituted by virtue of S.I. 1974/1885, Sch. 2 para. 3

F2 S. 40(3) repealed (E.W.S.) (1.3.1992) by S.I. 1991/2097, reg. 14(2)

F3 Words in s. 40(4) repealed (E.W.S.) (1.11.1991) by S.I. 1991/1531, reg. 19, Sch. 4 Pt.I (with reg. 19(6))

F4 Words substituted by S.I. 1974/1885, Sch. 2 para. 14

F5 Words substituted by virtue of Customs and Excise Act 1952 (c. 44), s. 318(1), Sch. 10 Pt. I

F6 Words substituted by Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (c. 2, SIF 40:1), reg. 2, Sch. 4 para. 12

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 40 extended by Fireworks Act 1951 (c. 58), s. 5(5)

Marginal Citations

M1 1974 c. 37.