In these Regulations—

• “the 1969 Act” means the Mines Act (Northern Ireland) 19696;

• “the 1978 Order” means the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978;

• “the 1995 Regulations” means the Mines and Quarries (Tips and Tipping Plans) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 19957;

• “the 2006 Regulations” means the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations (Northern Ireland) 20068;

• “abandoned mine” means—

  1. a

     a mine to which section 129 of the 1969 Act applied immediately before the date on which these Regulations came into operation; or

  2. b

     a mine in respect of which a notice of abandonment has been given;

• “action level” means—

  1. a

     in relation to respirable dust, a concentration in air equal to or greater than 3 mg/m³ as a time-weighted average over a 40 hour period; and

  2. b

     in relation to respirable crystalline silica, a concentration in air equal to or greater than 0.3 mg/m³ as a time-weighted average over a 40 hour period;

• “appoint” in relation to a person means appoint in writing with a statement summarising the person’s duties and authority;

• “auxiliary fan” means a fan used or intended to be used at a mine wholly or mainly for ventilating a heading, drift or blind end;

• “competent” in relation to a person means a person with sufficient training and experience, or knowledge and other qualities, to enable that person properly to undertake the duties assigned to that person;

• “conveyance” means any carriage, cage, skip or kibble in which persons, minerals or materials are wound through a shaft;

• “COSHH” means the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (Northern Ireland) 20039;

• “counterweight” means a frame containing weights connected into a single conveyance winding system to reduce the out of balance static loads within the system;

• “danger area” means any part of the mine below ground which is not for the time being safe to work in or pass through;

• “DSEAR” means the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (Northern Ireland) 200310;

• “escape and rescue plan” has the meaning given in regulation 54;

• “emergency” means a situation which renders necessary the evacuation or rescue (or both) of persons from a mine;

• “explosive article” means an article containing one or more explosive substances;

• “explosive substance” has the meaning given in regulation 2(1) of the 2006 Regulations;

• “explosives” means explosive articles or explosive substances;

• “gas outburst” means a sudden release of gas with or without the projection of minerals or rocks;

• “ground control measure” means a measure designed to control the movement of the ground, including the provision and installation of support materials;

• “health and safety document” has the meaning given in regulation 9(1);

• “health surveillance” means an assessment of the state of health of a person, in relation to exposure to inhalable dust;

• “inhalable dust” means airborne material which is capable of entering the nose and mouth during breathing, as defined by BS EN 481: 199311;

• “inrush” means a sudden, unexpected inflow into the mine having the potential to expose persons to danger;

• “lower explosive limit” means the minimum concentration of vapour in air below which propagation of a flame will not occur in the presence of an ignition source;

• “the Management Regulations” means the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 200012;

• “mine” has the meaning given in regulation 3;

• “mine operator” means—

  1. a

     in relation to a mine, the person who is in control of the operation of the mine; and

  2. b

     in relation to a mine which is to be constructed or operated, the person who proposes to control its operation or (if that person is not known) the person who in the course of a trade, business or other undertaking carried on by that person has commissioned its design and construction;

• “misfire” means an occurrence in relation to the firing of shots where—

  1. a

     testing before firing reveals broken continuity which cannot be rectified; or

  2. b

     a shot or any part of a shot fails to explode when an attempt is made to fire it;

• “notice of abandonment” means a notice given under regulation 6(3) that a mine has been abandoned;

• “notifiable tip” has the meaning given in regulation 63;

• “overwind” means unintentional overtravel of a conveyance or counterweight beyond the limits set by a device installed for the purpose of preventing such overtravel;

• “owner” means the person entitled for the time being to work a mine;

• “potentially hazardous area” has the meaning given in regulation 34;

• “PUWER” means the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 199913;

• “respirable dust” means airborne material which is capable of penetrating the gas exchange region of the lung, as defined by BS EN 481: 1993;

• “respiratory protective equipment” means equipment which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work and which protects that person against risks to that person’s health from inhalation of harmful substances, and any addition or accessory designed to meet that objective;

• “rockburst” means a sudden, violent failure of stopes, pillars, walls or other rock buttresses adjacent to or in the mine workings;

• “ self-rescuer” means respiratory protective equipment designed for use while escaping from a mine;

• “shaft” includes a staple-pit, raise, winze, or any similar excavation (whether sunk or in the course of being sunk);

• “shot” means a single shot or a series of shots fired as part of one blast;

• “shotfirer” means a person appointed in accordance with the mine operator’s written procedures to be responsible for shotfiring operations;

• “tip” means an accumulation or deposit of any refuse from a mine (whether in a solid or liquid state or in solution or suspension) other than an accumulation or deposit situated underground, and includes, but is not limited to—

  1. a

     overburden dumps, backfill, spoil heaps, stock piles and lagoons, and

  2. b

     any wall or other structure that retains or confines a tip;

• “tips rules” has the meaning given by regulation 66;

• “ventilation plan” has the meaning given by regulation 59;

• “winding apparatus” means mechanically operated apparatus for lowering and raising loads through a shaft and includes a conveyance or counterweight attached to such apparatus and all ancillary apparatus.