JUNE 16.

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

2093

glycerine compound, and no drill-hole shall be bored in any
remaining portion of a hole in which a charge of nitro-
glycerine compound has been previously exploded.

227. (1.) Before any shot is charged the direction of the hole
     shall, where practicable, be distinctly marked on the roof or
     other convenient place.

(2.) Every charge shall be placed in a properly drilled
and placed shot-hole, and shall have sufficient stemming,
and each such charge shall consist of a cartridge or cartridges
of not more than one description of explosive. It shall be
the duty of the person firing the shot to satisfy himself that
these requirements are fulfilled before he fires the shot.

(3.) Shots shall be stemmed with clay or other soft non-
inflammable material, provided, where required, by the owner
or manager; in no case shall coaldust be used for stemming.

(4.) No iron or steel tool shall be used for charging or
tamping shots, and no iron or steel tamping-bar shall be
taken into any mine.

(5.) No explosive shall be forcibly pressed into a hole, and
when a hole has been charged the explosive shall not be
unrammed, nor shall any part of the stemming be removed,
nor shall the detonator leads be pulled out.

228. (1.) The person firing the shot shall, before doing so,
     see that all persons in the vicinity have taken proper shelter,
     and he shall also take suitable steps to prevent any person
     approaching the shot. He shall also himself take proper
     shelter. If he has reason to believe that there is a possibility
     of the shot blowing through into an adjoining place he shall
     send verbal warning to the persons in that adjoining place to
     take proper shelter.

(2.) No shot shall be fired in any mine except by means
of an efficient magneto-electrical apparatus, or by means of
a fuse complying with the conditions and ignited in the follow-
ing manner:--

The fuse shall consist of a core of gunpowder, protected
by not less than three coverings of thread or by not less
than two coverings of thread and one of tape or guttapercha.
The fuse shall be of such quality that the time of burning
of the fuse shall not vary more than ten seconds above or
below the rate of ninety seconds for every yard of fuse. The
fuse shall be ignited by means of an igniter contained in a
tube which when attached to the fuse forms a completely
closed chamber or, in the case of a mine or part of a mine
in which the use of safety lamps is not required, the fuse
may be ignited by means of a naked light, subject to the con-
ditions that in such mine or part of a mine no person while
charging a shot-hole or handling any explosive not contained
in a securely closed case or canister shall smoke or allow any
naked light to be within a distance of 4 ft. of the shot-hole
or explosive, and before a light is brought near to the hole
for the purpose of firing the shot all other explosives shall be
removed from the neighbourhood of the shot-hole.

(3.) The person firing the shot shall, after the shot has
been fired, make a careful examination of the place, and see
that it is safe in all respects.

(4.) Where shots are fired electrically they shall only be
fired by a person authorized in writing by the manager for
the purpose. The authorized person shall not use, for the
purpose of firing, a cable which is less than 20 yards in length.
He shall himself couple up the cable to the fuse or detonator
wires, and shall do so before coupling the cable to the firing-
apparatus. He shall take care to prevent the cable coming
into contact with any power or lighting cables. He shall
also himself couple the cable to the firing-apparatus. Before
doing so he shall see that all persons in the vicinity have
taken proper shelter.

(5.) Every electrical firing-apparatus shall be provided
with a push-button and with a removable handle, which
shall not be placed in position until the shot is required to be
fired, and which shall be removed as soon as a shot has been
fired. The removable handle shall at all times remain in the
personal custody of the authorized person whilst on duty.
For the push-button there may be substituted an arrange-
ment by which the firing-contact is automatically made at the
end of the travel of the handle, and on the release of the handle
is automatically broken.

229. (a.) When required by the Inspector, a sufficient
     number of competent persons (in these regulations referred
     to as shot-firers) shall be appointed by the manager in writing
     for the purpose of firing shots.

(b.) No person shall be qualified to be appointed or be a
shot-firer unless he is the holder of a fireman-deputy's or higher
certificate, or unless he has previously been employed for at
least two years as a miner at the coal-face and has obtained
a gas-testing certificate.

(c.) Where shot-firers have been appointed, no shot shall be
fired underground except by a shot-firer.

(d.) In any mine in which explosives other than gun-
powder are used for shot firing, such shots shall, if so required
by the Inspector, be fired electrically.

230. If a shot misses fire--
     (a.) The person firing the shot shall not himself approach
     or allow any other person to approach nor shall any
     person knowingly approach the shot-hole until an
     interval has elapsed of not less than half an hour
     in the case of shots fired by electricity, and not less
     than one and a half hours in the case of shots fired
     by other means.

(b.) If the persons firing the shot has occasion to leave the
place, he shall fence off the place before leaving, and
attach to each fence a danger-board indicating the
presence of a miss-fired shot.

(c.) A second charge shall not be placed in the same hole.
(d.) If the shot was fired electrically, the person firing the
shot shall, before approaching or allowing any one to
approach the shot-hole, disconnect the cable and the
removable handle from the firing-apparatus and shall
examine the cable and connections for any defect,
and no person shall knowingly approach the shot-
hole until this has been done.

(e.) Except where the missfire is due to a faulty cable or
a faulty connection, and the shot is fired as soon as
practicable after the defect is remedied, another
shot shall be fired in a fresh hole, which shall be
drilled not less than 12 in. away from the hole in
which the shot has missed fire, and shall, as far as
practicable, be parallel with it.

(f.) If the missfired shot contains a detonator the person
firing the second shot shall, before doing so, attach
a string to the electric leads or the fuse of the miss-
fired shot, and secure it by attaching it to the cable
or to a prop or otherwise.

(g.) After the second shot has been fired no person shall
work in the place until the person firing the shot
or an official of the mine has made a careful search
for the detonator and charge of the missfired shot.
If the detonator and charge are not found the stone
or coal shall be loaded under the supervision of the
person firing the shot, or an official, and sent to the
surface in a specially marked tub. The search for
the detonator and charge, and the loading of any
stone or coal which may contain a detonator, shall be
carried out as far as possible without the aid of
tools.

(h.) Should the missfired shot not be dislodged by the
second shot, further holes must be drilled and the
same precautions taken as aforesaid.

(i.) The person or persons firing the shots shall report the
circumstances to the manager or underviewer with-
out delay, and the number of cartridges (if any)
which have not been found, and hand to him the
detonator and charge, if found.

231. Where a mine contains separate seams, all regulations
     regarding explosives shall apply to each seam as if it were a
     separate mine.

232. A copy of all regulations regarding explosives shall be
     supplied in booklet form by the owner to every shot-firer,
     and shall also be kept posted up in some conspicuous place
     at or near the mine where it may be conveniently read or
     seen by the persons employed.

Part II.--Special Provisions.

233. (1.) In any coal-mine in which inflammable gas has
     been found within the previous three months in such quantity
     as to be indicative of danger, or in which safety-lamps are
     required to be used, no explosive other than a permitted
     explosive as hereinafter defined shall be used in or taken for
     the purpose of use into the seam or seams in which the gas
     has been found, or any shaft or drift communicating there-
     with which is in process of being sunk, deepened, driven, or
     enlarged, as the case may be.

(2.) In all coal-mines (other than opencast workings) which
are not naturally wet throughout, no explosive other than a
permitted explosive as hereinafter defined shall be used in or
taken for the purpose of use into any road or any dry and
dusty part of the mine, or any shaft or drift communicating
therewith which is in process of being sunk, deepened, driven,
or enlarged, as the case may be.

234. In all cases in which permitted explosives are required
     by these regulations to be used--

(a.) (i.) No shot shall be fired except by a shot-firer.

(ii.) No shot shall be fired unless the shot-firer
has examined with a locked safety-lamp or other
apparatus approved for the purpose by the Minister
the place where the shot is to be fired and all con-
tiguous accessible places within a radius of 20 yards
from the place, and has found them clear of inflam-
mable gas.