Repeal of Mines Regulation Act, 1895. Special rules of Burden of proof to lie on defendant. Power of Governor in Council to make, alter, and repeal regulations. Coal Mines Regulation. (6.) Every owner, or manager, or officer appointed by the employees of a coal mine who refuses, obstructs, or prevents or causes the refusal, obstruction, or prevention of the production of the books of the mine, and the free examination of such books for the aforesaid purposes, shall be deemed guilty of an offence against this Act. (7.) The cheque books, bank books, vouchers, and documents of the trustees and accident committee, relating to the said Accident Relief Fund, shall be audited every six months by an auditor appointed by the Minister. (8.) In any action brought by a workman against the owner or manager for injuries, the amount to which such workman may be entitled from the said fund shall be taken into consideration in assessing the damages. 73. THE Mines Regulation Act of 1895, and all amendments and regulations relating to the same, as applying to coal mines, are hereby repealed, but such repeal shall not affect anything done or suffered before the commencement of this Act, and all penalties incurred under the said repealed Acts may be proceeded for and recovered and applied as if this Act had not been passed. 74. UNTIL special rules are framed under this Act, the special rules under the Mines Regulation Act, 1895, shall have effect. 75. IN any proceeding under the provisions of this Act against a mining manager or person in charge of the mining operations in or upon a mine, the burden shall lie on the defendant of proving he is not such manager or person. 76. (1.) IT shall be lawful for the Governor in Council from time to time to make, alter, and repeal such regulations as may be necessary for the purpose of giving effect to this Act. (2.) Such regulations may be made for the whole of the State or for any particular part thereof, and shall be published in the Government Gazette, and, after publication therein, shall have the force and effect of law, and shall be judicially noticed in every Court of Justice. Copies of all regulations made under this Act shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within fourteen days from the making thereof, if Parliament shall be then in session, and, if not, then within fourteen days after the commencement of the next session thereof; and such regulations shall, in so far as disallowed by Parliament, be deemed to be within the powers conferred by this Act, and to have been legally and properly made. (3.) Coal Mines Regulation. (3.) It shall be lawful by such regulations to impose for any breach thereof, or for any disobedience of a lawful order of the Registrar, a fine not exceeding Ten pounds. or, in default of payment, imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for any period not exceeding three months. In the name and on behalf of the King I hereby assent to this Act. ARTHUR LAWLEY, Governor. SCHEDULE. Coal Mines Regulation. SCHEDULE. General rules. Ventilation of mines. Ventilation by fire. Ventilation by machinery. Stations and inspection of conditions as to ventilation, etc. GENERAL RULES FOR THE REGULATION, GOVERNMENT, OR PROTECTION OF OR VISITING THE SAME. THE following General Rules shall be observed, so far as is reasonably practicable, in every mine : RULE 1.-An adequate amount of ventilation shall be constantly produced in every mine to dilute and render harmless noxious gases to such an extent that the working place of the shafts, levels, stables, and workings of the mine, and the travelling roads to and from those working places shall be in a fit state for working and passing therein. The ventilation so produced shall be the supply of pure air in quantity not less than one hundred cubic feet per minute, for each man, boy, and horse, or other animal employed in the mine, which air (in that proportion, but with as much more as the Inspector shall direct) not exceeding 200 cubic feet per minute, shall sweep along the airways and be forced as far as the face of and into each and every working-place where man, boy, horse, or other animal is engaged or passing, main return airways only excepted. Every mine, except such as are worked on the long-wall system, shall be divided into districts or splits of not more than fifty men in each; and each district shall be supplied with a separate current of fresh air. The intake air shall travel free from all stagnant water, stables, steam pipes, fires, and old workings. In the case of mines required by this Act to be under the control of a certificated manager, the quantity of air in the respective splits or currents shall at least once in every month be measured and entered in a book to be kept for the purpose at the mine. RULE 2.-Where a fire is used for ventilation in a mine newly opened after the commencement of this Act, the return air, unless it be so diluted as not to be inflammable, shall be carried off clear of the fire by means of a dumb drift or airway. RULE 3. Where a mechanical contrivance for ventilation is introduced into any mine after the commencement of this Act, it shall be in such position and placed under such conditions as will tend to insure its being uninjured by any explosion. RULE 4. A station or stations shall be appointed at the entrance to the mine or to different parts of the mine, as the case may require, and the following provisions shall have effect: (1.) As to inspection before commencing work- A competent person or competent persons appointed by the owner, agent, or manager for the purpose, not being contractors for getting minerals in the mine shall, within such time immediately before the commencement of each shift as shall be fixed by special rules made under this Act, inspect every part of the mine situate beyond the station or each of the stations, and in which workmen are to work or pass during that shift, and shall ascertain the condition thereof so far as the presence of gas, ventilation, roof, and sides, and general safety are con cerned. No workman shall pass beyond any such station until the part of the mine beyond that station has been so examined and stated by such competent person to be safe. The inspection shall be made with a locked safety lamp, except in the case of any mine in which inflammable gas has not been found within the preceding twelve months. A Coal Mines Regulation. A report specifying where noxious or inflammable gases, if any, were For the purpose of the foregoing provisions of this rule, two or more (2.) As to inspection during shifts: A similar inspection shall be made in the course of each shift of all RULE 5.-A competent person or competent persons appointed by the owner, agent, or manager for the purpose shall, once at least in every twenty-four hours, examine the state of the external parts of the machinery, the state of the guides and conductors in the shafts, and the state of the head gear, ropes, chains, and other similar appliances of the mine which are in actual use, both above ground and below ground, and shall, once at least in every week, examine the state of the shafts by which persons ascend or descend; and shall make a true report of the result of such examination, and every such report shall be recorded without delay in a book to be kept at the mine for the purpose, and shall be signed by the person who made the inspection. RULE 6.-Every entrance to any place which is not in actual use or course of working and extension shall be properly fenced across the whole width of the entrance, so as to prevent persons inadvertently entering the same. Inspection of machibelow ground. nery, etc., above and Fencing of entrances. Withdrawal of workmen RULE 7.-If at any time it is found by the person for the time being in charge of the mine, or any part thereof, that by reason of inflammable gases in case of danger. prevailing in the mine, or that part thereof, or of any cause whatever, the mine or that part is dangerous, every workman shall be withdrawn from the mine or part so found dangerous; and a competent person appointed for the purpose shall inspect the mine, or part so found dangerous; and if the danger arises from inflammable gas, shall inspect the mine or part with a locked safety lamp, and in every case shall make a true report of the condition of the mine or part; and a workman shall not, except in so far as is necessary for inquiring into the cause of danger or for the removal thereof, or for exploration, be readmitted into the mine, or part so found dangerous, until the same is stated by the person appointed as aforesaid not to be dangerous. Every such report shall be recorded in a book, which shall be kept at the mine for the purpose, and shall be signed by the person who made the inspection. RULE 8.-No lamp or light other than a locked safety lamp shall be allowed or used (a.) In any place in a mine in which there is likely to be any such quantity And when it is necessary to work the coal in any part of a ventilating district RULE Use of safety lamps in certain places. Construction of safety lamps. Examination of safety lamps. Lamp stations. Use of explosives below ground. Coal Mines Regulation. RULE 9.-Wherever safety lamps are used, they shall be constructed of a type to be approved by the inspector. RULE 10. In any mine or part of a mine in which safety lamps are required by this Act, or by the special rules made in pursuance of this special Act to be used (1.) A competent person appointed by the owner, agent, or manager for the purpose shall, either at the surface or at the appointed lamp station, examine every safety lamp immediately before it is taken into the workings for use, and ascertain it to be in safe working order and securely locked, and such lamps shall not be used until they have been so examined and found in safe working order, and securely locked. (2.) A safety lamp shall not be unlocked except either at the appointed lamps station or for the purpose of firing a shot, in conformity with the provisions hereinafter contained. (3.) A person, unless he has been appointed either for the purpose of examining safety lamps, or for the purpose of firing shots, shall not have in his possession any contrivance for opening the lock of any safety lamp. (4.) A person shall not have in his possession any lucifer match or apparatus of any kind for striking a light excepting within a completely closed chamber attached to the fuse of the shot. RULE 11. Where safety lamps are required to be used the position of the lamp stations for lighting or relighting the lamps shall not be in the return air. RULE 12.-Gunpowder or other explosive or inflammable substance shall only be used in a mine as hereunder provided, that is to say : (a.) It shall not be stored on the surface or adjacent to the mine except in such magazine and in such quantities as may be in writing approved by the Minister. Detonators shall be stored in a separate magazine. (b.) It shall not be stored in the mine. (c.) It shall not be taken into or kept in the mine, except in cartridges in a secure case or canister containing not more than eight pounds of powder or four pounds of nitro-glycerine compound. Provided that on the application of the owner, agent, or manager of any mine, the Minister may, by order, exempt such mine from so much of this rule as forbids taking an explosive substance into the mine except in cartridges. (d.) A workman or party of workmen shall not have in use at any one time in any one place more than one of such cases or canisters. (e.) In the process of charging or stemming for blasting, a person shall (f.) No explosive shall be forcibly pressed into a hole of insufficient size, |