The Coal and Other Mines (Sanitary Conveniences) Order 1956

Statutory Instruments

1956 No. 1776

MINES AND QUARRIES

The Coal and Other Mines (Sanitary Conveniences) Order, 1956

Made

7th November 1956

Laid before Parliament

26th November 1956

Coming into Operation

1st January 1957

Whereas by subsection (1) of section one hundred and ninety of the Mines and Quarries Act, 1954 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) the Minister of Fuel and Power (hereinafter referred to as “the Minister”) is empowered to re-enact amongst other things (to the extent to which they could by virtue of the Act be enacted in regulations made under section one hundred and forty-one thereof) provisions of any regulation having effect by virtue of section eighty-six of the Coal Mines Act, 1911, subject to such modifications (if any) as appear to him to be consequential on the passing of the Act or requisite for the purpose either of bringing those provisions into conformity with the Act or of expressly limiting their operation to mines of the class to which their operation is limited immediately before the commencement of the Act:

And Whereas by subsection (2) of that section it is provided amongst other things that an order under subsection (1) shall set out in a schedule to the order the provisions thereby re-enacted and may direct that those provisions shall have effect as if they were regulations made under section one hundred and forty-one of the Act:

Now, therefore, the Minister in pursuance of the powers conferred upon him by section one hundred and ninety of the Act hereby orders as follows:—

1.—(1) The provisions set out in the schedule hereto, being provisions of regulations one hundred and six to one hundred and twelve of the General Regulations dated July 10, 1913(1), subject to such modifications as aforesaid, are hereby re-enacted and shall have effect as if they were regulations made under section one hundred and forty-one of the Act coming into operation at the commencement of the Act.

(2) The provisions set out in the schedule hereto may be cited as the Coal and Other Mines (Sanitary Conveniences) Regulations, 1956.

2.  This order shall come into operation at the commencement of the Act and may be cited as the Coal and Other Mines (Sanitary Conveniences) Order, 1956.

Aubrey Jones

Minister of Fuel and Power

Dated this seventh day of November, nineteen hundred and fifty-six

SCHEDULE THE COAL AND OTHER MINES (SANITARY CONVENIENCES) REGULATIONS, 1956, HAVING EFFECT AS IF MADE UNDER SECTION ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-ONE OF THE MINES AND QUARRIES ACT. 1954

Application

1.  These regulations shall apply to every mine of coal, stratified ironstone, shale or fireclay, and in these regulations “ mine” means such a mine.

Location and construction of sanitary conveniences

2.  It shall be the duty of the manager of every mine to ensure that sanitary conveniences provided at the mine in pursuance of section ninety-four of the Act are provided—

(a) in or adjacent to the winding engine house;

(b) at such other suitable places above ground as may be requisite in order to afford to every person employed at the mine convenient access to one at least of such conveniences;

(c) at or adjacent to every entrance below ground to every shaft and outlet, being an entrance ordinarily used by persons for the purpose of getting to or from their working places in the mine; and

(d) at suitable places along any length of road below ground, being a length which is a main intake airway or a main return airway for the purposes of the Coal and Other Mines (Ventilation) Regulations, 1956(2), so far as may be requisite for persons normally employed at places along that length of road.

3.  It shall be the duty of the manager of every mine to ensure—

(a) that all sanitary conveniences provided above ground at the mine are—

(i) under cover; and

(ii) so screened as to secure privacy for persons using them;

(b) that in any case where persons of both sexes are, or are intended to be, employed at the mine, every sanitary convenience provided above ground at the mine for the use of persons of one sex is—

(i) so placed or screened that, whatever the position for the time being of any door thereto, no part of the interior of that convenience can be seen from any place where any person of the other sex may work or pass; and

(ii) (if it adjoins a sanitary convenience provided for the use of persons of the other sex) readily approachable by a way separate from every way of approach to that other convenience; and

(c) that every sanitary convenience provided at the mine for the use of females is provided with a door which can be firmly secured on the inside when shut.

Equipment and cleaning of sanitary conveniences

4.  The manager of every mine shall make and secure the efficient carrying out of arrangements whereby (except in the case of urinals, water-closets and conveniences so constructed and used that any deposit flows therefrom to a separate container and is therein chemically treated)—

(a) an adequate supply of disinfectant, dry coal dust, or other suitable substance for covering faeces is constantly provided in a suitable receptacle at every sanitary convenience at the mine;

(b) every sanitary convenience below ground at the mine is provided with a portable receptacle with a lid, both being made of suitable material;

(c) every receptacle provided in pursuance of sub-paragraph (b) is, at such intervals as may be necessary and in any case at intervals not exceeding seven days, emptied above ground or below ground in waste, and cleaned; and

(d) the contents of every such receptacle emptied below ground in any waste are forthwith disposed of in that waste in a hygienic manner.

Use of sanitary conveniences

5.—(1) No person shall relieve his bowels at a mine above ground or on a road below ground otherwise than in a sanitary convenience.

(2) No person shall improperly soil or render unfit for use any sanitary convenience at a mine or any sanitary utensil or appliance provided for use at such a sanitary convenience.

(3) Every person who relieves his bowels below ground at a mine (otherwise than in a water-closet or a convenience so constructed and used that any deposit flows therefrom to a separate container and is therein chemically treated) shall forthwith cover the faeces with disinfectant, dry coal dust, or other suitable substance.

Interpretation

6.—(1) In these regulations the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say—

“the Act” means the Mines and Quarries Act, 1954;

“mine” has the meaning assigned thereto in regulation one.

(2) The Interpretation Act, 1889, shall apply to the interpretation of these regulations as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This order is made under the Mines and Quarries Act, 1954, s. 190, which empowers the Minister of Fuel and Power to re-enact (to the extent to which they could be enacted in regulations made under the Act and subject to modifications of the kind specified in that section) the provisions of regulations which will cease to have effect at the commencement of the Act.

The provisions set out as regulations in the schedule to this order specify the places at which sanitary conveniences must be provided at mines of coal, stratified ironstone, shale and fireclay, and make provision with regard to the construction, equipment, cleaning and use of such conveniences. The regulations comprise, and will at the commencement of the Act replace, provisions of the General Regulations dated July 10, 1913, regs. 106 to 112, made under the Coal Mines Act, 1911.

(1)

(Rev. IV, p.318: 1913, p. 680).

(2)

(p. 1295 above).