PART II

Management and Control of Mines and Quarries

Mine and Quarry Owners

12. —(1) It shall be the duty of the owner of every mine and quarry to secure that the mine or quarry is planned, laid out, managed and worked in accordance with this Act and with the orders and regulations and to comply with all requirements thereunder.

(2) The owner shall give written instructions to every person appointed by him for the purpose of securing the fulfilment of the owner's statutory duties defining that person's responsibilities.

(3) The owner shall forthwith send a copy of such instructions to an inspector and to the manager of the mine or quarry.

Mine Managers and other Officials

13. —(1) Subject to this Part, no mine shall be worked unless there is a sole manager of the mine, being an individual duly appointed and having such qualifications as are required under this Part.

(2) The manager of a mine shall have the management and control of the mine, exercisable subject to any instructions given to him by or on behalf of the owner, and shall also—

(a) have the duty of securing the discharge by all others of obligations imposed on them with respect to the mine under this Act, and

(b) have such duties with respect to the appointment of persons to carry out inspections of the mine and to be in charge of, or to supervise or conduct, operations thereat, and such other duties, and such powers, as are imposed or conferred on him under this Act.

(3) It shall be the duty of the manager of every mine, with respect to each report, record or other item of information which, in pursuance of this Act or regulations, is entered in a book which by or by virtue of this Act is required to be provided for that purpose by the owner of the mine, either to read it himself forthwith or to secure that it is read forthwith by some other competent person and that there is promptly brought to his notice any matter disclosed by the report, record or other item of information which either is of an abnormal or unusual nature as regards the mine or, not being of such a nature, is of a kind which will or may necessitate the taking of any steps by the manager or any other person.

(4) The manager of a mine shall be appointed by the owner who, if an individual, may appoint himself subject, in the case of a mine whereof the manager is under this Part required to hold qualifications for his office, to the possession by the owner of those qualifications.

14. —(1) Any instructions given to the manager of a mine by or on behalf of the owner, affecting the fulfilment by the manager of his statutory responsibilities, shall, so far as they are not written, be confirmed in writing, by the person by whom they were given, forthwith on the request of the manager.

(2) Except in a case of emergency, neither the owner of a mine nor a person acting on his behalf shall, except with the consent of the manager, give, otherwise than through the manager, any instructions to a person employed at the mine who is responsible to the manager.

(3) Where, in any excepted case, the owner of a mine or a person acting on his behalf gives instructions which would otherwise be required to be given through the manager, the person who gave the instructions shall forthwith inform the manager of the substance thereof and, on the request of the manager, confirm them in writing forthwith.

(4) Where, in the case of a mine whereof the manager is under this Part required to hold qualifications for his office, instructions are given by or on behalf of the owner to the manager, or a person appointed by the manager in pursuance of this Act or regulations, then, if the manager is of opinion that the execution of the instructions would or might be likely to prejudice the safety or health of the persons employed at the mine (or any of them) or to impede him in the discharge, in relation to the mine, of any duty imposed on him by or by virtue of this Act, he may,—

(a) in a case where the instructions are given to him, decline to execute them until they are confirmed in writing by a person qualified for appointment as manager of the mine who is authorised in writing by the owner to confirm instructions so given,

(b) in any other case, direct that the instructions be not executed until they are so confirmed by such a person.

(5) Subsection (4) shall not apply to instructions given by an owner of a mine who is an individual qualified for appointment as manager of such a mine or by such a person as is mentioned in paragraph (a) of that subsection.

(6) Where, in the case of a mine to which subsection (4) applies, instructions are given and confirmed as therein mentioned, the document by which they are confirmed shall be preserved by the manager, and a copy of that document shall be preserved by the owner, in each case for three years after the instructions cease to be operative.

15. —No person shall be qualified to be appointed or to be the manager of a mine at which more than fourteen persons are employed below ground unless he has attained such age, possesses such qualifications and satisfies such other conditions as may be prescribed.

16. —(1) No mine shall be worked unless daily personal supervision thereover is exercised by the manager or, during any period during which he is absent on leave or is prevented from exercising such supervision by sickness or other cause beyond his control, by a person appointed by the owner of the mine (and having such qualifications (if any) as may be prescribed) to exercise such supervision during any such period.

(2) Subsection (1) shall not authorise the working of a mine under the supervision of a person other than the manager for any period exceeding seventy-two days (or such longer period as an inspector may allow).

(3) A person appointed under subsection (1) shall, so far as regards any period during which he acts in exercise of his appointment, be treated for the purposes of this Act, orders made thereunder and regulations in all respects as if he were the manager of the mine but nothing in this subsection shall be construed as divesting the manager of any power, or relieving him from any duty or liability, conferred or imposed on him by or by virtue of this Act.

17. —(1) Provision may be made by regulations—

(a) for imposing, in relation to a mine, such requirements as to the carrying out, by competent persons (each of whom is in this Act referred to as a “deputy”) appointed for the purpose by the manager of the mine and having such qualifications as may be prescribed, of inspections of the mine as the Minister thinks proper to impose to secure the safety and health of the persons employed;

(b) for providing that, subject to any exceptions for which provision may be made by the regulations, deputies shall have the immediate charge of the persons employed at the mine and of the operations carried on by them;

(c) for prescribing any additional duties to be discharged by deputies and for requiring that, subject to any prescribed exceptions, deputies shall devote the whole of their time to the discharge of their duties; and

(d) for requiring or authorising the delimitation in a mine of districts for the purpose of the discharge by deputies of their duties, for requiring that where districts are delimited no deputy shall have charge of more than one district and for relating to each district the duties of the deputy in charge of it.

(2) It shall be the duty of the manager of the mine to secure that the number of deputies is sufficient to secure the efficient discharge of their duties.

18. —(1) It shall be the duty of the manager of every mine to appoint such number of officials, engineers and technicians and other competent persons as is sufficient (taking into account activities undertaken in person by the manager and by any persons so appointed) to secure—

(a) the adequate inspection of the mine and its equipment,

(b) the thorough supervision of all operations at the mine, and

(c) the carrying on of the undertaking of the mine in conformity with this Act.

(2) Regulations may require the manager of a mine to appoint such officials, engineers or technicians or other competent persons as may be prescribed, for the purpose of supervising, inspecting or conducting prescribed operations or matters, and the regulations may prescribe the qualifications to be held and the duties to be discharged by such persons.

19. —It shall be the duty of the manager of every mine to ensure to the best of his ability that every person appointed by him in pursuance of this Act or of regulations understands the nature and scope of his duties.

20. —Where a mine or any part thereof is worked, or any operations in a mine are carried on, by a contractor, and a person is under this Part required to hold qualifications for appointment as manager or deputy, neither the contractor nor a person employed by him shall be capable of being appointed to such office notwithstanding that, apart from this section, he is qualified for appointment thereto.

21. —(1) Regulations may require the manager of a mine to keep at the office at the mine or at some other place approved by an inspector—

(a) accurate plans of all the workings (whether abandoned or not) in the mine or within, or within a prescribed distance from, the boundaries of the mine or of such of those workings as may be prescribed,

(b) accurate sections of the seams or veins for the time being worked in the mine and of all the strata overlying them,

in such form and manner and complying with such conditions as may be prescribed.

(2) It shall be the duty both of the owner and of the manager, and of such other persons as may be prescribed, to afford to the person preparing any plan or section all such information and facilities as he may need for the purpose.

(3) Regulations may require, in the case of the abandonment or disuse of a mine or of a seam or vein in a mine, the owner to send to an inspector such plans and sections relating thereto and to the overlying strata, in such circumstances, within such time, in such form and manner and complying with such conditions as may be prescribed.

22. —(1) If it appears to the Minister that—

(a) any plan or section to which section 21 applies is inaccurate, incomplete, dilapidated or wholly or partly indecipherable or that a plan or section required to be sent to an inspector has not been sent within the prescribed time, and

(b) that, in the interests of safety, it is desirable for a new plan or section to be made,

the Minister may appoint a person (in this section referred to as “the surveyor”) to make a new plan or section.

(2) The owner and the manager shall afford to the surveyor all such facilities and information as he may need.

(3) The cost of making the new plan or section, or such part of the cost as the Minister thinks proper, shall be recoverable by the Minister from the owner.

Quarry Managers and other Officials

23. —(1) Subject to this Part, no quarry shall be worked unless there is a sole manager of the quarry, being an individual.

(2) The manager shall be appointed by the owner who, if an individual, may appoint himself.

24. —(1) Subject to section 25, the manager of a quarry shall have the management and control of the quarry, exercisable subject to any instructions given to him by or on behalf of the owner, and shall also have the duty of securing the discharge by all others of obligations imposed on them with respect to the quarry by or under the following provisions of this Part.

(2) It shall be the duty of the manager of a quarry, with respect to each report, record or other item of information which in pursuance of this Act or regulations is entered in a book which by or by virtue of this Act is required to be provided for that purpose by the owner of the quarry, either to read it himself forthwith or to secure that it is read forthwith by some other competent person and that there is promptly brought to his notice any matter disclosed by the report, record or other item of information which relates to a matter over which the management and control vested in him by this section extends and either is of an abnormal or unusual nature as regards the quarry or, not being of such a nature, is of a kind which will or may necessitate the taking of any steps by the manager or any other person.

25. —(1) There shall be excepted from the management and control vested in the manager by section 24 any matter responsibility for which is for the time being reserved to himself by the owner by instrument in writing executed by him and lodged with the inspector and the manager shall not, as regards any matter so excepted, be concerned to secure compliance with any requirement imposed with respect to the quarry by or under this Act.

(2) If the inspector is of opinion that reservation to the owner, by any such instrument, of responsibility for any particular matter is, or might be, likely to prejudice the safety or health of persons employed at the quarry, the inspector may, by notice served on the owner, direct that the instrument shall, to the extent of the reservation, be of no effect.

(3) Nothing in subsection (1) shall be construed as authorising the divestment of, or as operating to divest, a manager of a quarry of any duty expressly imposed on him by or under the following provisions of this Part.

(4) Where responsibility for any matter is for the time being duly reserved to the owner of a quarry, it shall be his duty, with respect to each such report, record or other item of information as aforesaid, either to read it himself forthwith or to secure that it is read forthwith by some other competent person and that there is promptly brought to his notice any matter disclosed by the report, record or other item of information which relates to the matter responsibility for which is so reserved and either is of an abnormal or unusual nature as regards the quarry or, not being of such a nature, is of a kind which will or may necessitate the taking of any steps by the owner or any other person.

26. —(1) Any instructions given to the manager of a quarry by or on behalf of the owner, affecting the fulfilment by the manager of his statutory responsibilities shall, so far as they are not written, be confirmed in writing by the person by whom they were given forthwith on the request of the manager.

(2) Except in a case of emergency, neither the owner of a quarry nor a person acting on his behalf shall, except with the consent of the manager, give, otherwise than through the manager, to a person employed at the quarry who is responsible to the manager, any instructions affecting the discharge of that person's duties in relation to a matter over which the management and control vested in the manager by section 24 extends.

(3) Where, in any excepted case, the owner or a person acting on his behalf gives instructions which would otherwise be required to be given through the manager, the person who gave the instructions shall forthwith inform the manager of the substance thereof and, on the request of the manager, confirm them in writing forthwith.

27. —(1) No quarry shall be worked unless close and effective supervision over all operations in progress thereat is exercised by the manager or, during any period during which he is absent on leave or is prevented from exercising such supervision by sickness or other cause beyond his control, by a person appointed by the owner to exercise such supervision during any such period.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall require the supervision to be exercised by the manager to extend to any operation in so far as it involves matters which, under section 25, are excepted from his management and control.

(3) The person appointed shall, while so acting, be treated for the purposes of this Act in all respects as if he were the manager.

(4) Nothing in subsection (3) shall divest the manager of any power, or relieve him from any duty or liability, conferred or imposed on him by or under this Act.

28. —Regulations may prohibit the carrying on at a quarry of operations of a prescribed class unless the manager has prescribed qualifications, and any such regulations may—

(a) provide for temporary exemptions from the prohibition to avoid, in the case of the manager's ceasing to hold office, sudden cessation of the carrying on at the quarry of operations of that class, and

(b) provide that section 27 shall not authorise the appointment of any person to exercise supervision over such operations unless that person has the prescribed qualifications.

29. —Regulations may require the appointment by owners or managers of quarries, for the purpose of supervising, inspecting or conducting prescribed operations or matters, of such officials, engineers or technicians or other competent persons as may be prescribed, and the regulations may prescribe the qualifications to be held and the duties to be discharged by such persons.

Provisions as to Appointments by Mine and Quarry Owners.

30. —(1) Where the manager of a mine or quarry dies, resigns or otherwise ceases to hold office, nothing in section 13 or 23 shall prevent the mine or quarry being worked at any time during a period not exceeding seventy-two days (or such longer period as an inspector may allow) until a successor is appointed, if at that time there is a person appointed by the owner to exercise and perform, in the event of the manager's ceasing to hold office, his powers and duties until a successor is appointed.

(2) The person appointed shall, while so acting, be treated for the purposes of this Act in all respects as if he were the manager.

31. —Forthwith after the appointment by the owner of a mine or quarry of a person to be a manager, or to exercise and perform the powers and duties of manager during a vacancy, or to exercise supervision during a period when the manager is absent or unable to exercise supervision, the owner shall give to the inspector notice, in such form as may be specified by the Minister, of the making of the appointment and of the name and address of the person appointed.