S.I. No. 42/1955 - The Stores For Explosives Order, 1955.

S.I. No. 42 of 1955.

THE STORES FOR EXPLOSIVES ORDER, 1955.

The Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 16, 17, 39, 40, 43, 46, 47 and 83 of the Explosives Act, 1875, as adapted, and on the recommendation of the Minister for Justice, published in the manner directed by the Minister, hereby order as follows:—

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Stores for Explosives Order, 1955.

(2) This Order shall come into operation on the first day of April, 1955.

2. The Interpretation Act, 1937 (No. 38 of 1937), applies to this Order.

3.—(1) In this Order—

"the Act" means the Explosives Act, 1875;

"Government inspector" means an inspector appointed under and for the purposes of the Act;

"store" has the meaning assigned to it by section 108 of the Act;

"authorised explosive" means any explosive for the time being authorised to be manufactured for general sale or imported for general sale, whether with or without a licence;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Justice.

(2) In this Order any reference to a class of explosive or to a division of a class, either generally or to a class or division particularly numbered, shall be construed as a reference to a class or division, or to a class or division so numbered, into which explosives have been classified by any Order made under section 106 of the Act and for the time being in force.

4. The following Orders are hereby revoked—

(a) the Order made on the twenty-seventh day of November, 1875, relating to stores for gunpowder exclusively;

(b) the Order made on the twenty-seventh day of November, 1875, relating to stores licensed for mixed explosives;

(c) the Order made on the twentieth day of April, 1883, relating to stores licensed for mixed explosives;

(d) the Order made on the eleventh day of February, 1907, relating to stores licensed for gunpowder and for mixed explosives;

(e) the Order made on the twenty-eighth day of June, 1909, relating to stores licensed for gunpowder and for mixed explosives;

(f) the Stores Licensed for Mixed Explosives (Amendment) Order, 1945 ( S. R. & O. No. 73 of 1945 ).

5. A store shall be well and substantially built of brick, stone, iron, steel or concrete or shall be excavated in solid rock, earth or mine refuse not liable to ignition and shall be so made and closed as to prevent unauthorised persons having access thereto and to secure it from danger from without.

6. A store shall not be situated below ground in any mine, quarry, tunnel or other underground place in which work is carried on or in which any persons are employed or in any place which opens into or out of or is in communication with any such mine, quarry, tunnel or underground place.

7.—(1) In this Article—

"exempted workshop" means a workshop used in connection with a store for the adaptation or preparation of explosive in such circumstances that by virtue of section 47 of the Act the occupier of the store is not required to take out a factory licence under the Act;

"general explosive" means an explosive of Classes 1, 2, 3 and 4, and of the 2nd and 3rd Divisions of Class 6;

"licensee", in relation to a store, means the person for the time being licensed under the Act in respect of the store;

"protected work of Class 1" means—

(a) any dwelling-house, shop, room (whether or not used for the filling of cartridges for small arms with explosive in such circumstances that by virtue of section 46 of the Act the occupier is not required to take out a factory licence under the Act), workshop (whether an exempted workshop or not) mineral or private railway (whether worked by steam or otherwise), magazine for explosive, store for explosive or premises registered for the keeping of explosive, in any case in which such dwelling-house, shop, room, workshop, railway, magazine, storeor premises is occupied by the licensee, or where the occupier thereof has given his consent in writing to its being treated as a protected work of Class 1;

(b) any furnace, kiln or fire which is situated on land occupied by the licensee, or on land the occupier of which has given his consent in writing to that furnace, kiln or fire being treated as a protected work of Class 1; and

(c) any highway, public footpath, promenade or open place of resort for the public or for persons engaged in any trade or business, and any canal, navigable water, dock, river-wall, sea-wall, pier, jetty or reservoir;

"protected work of Class 2" means—

(a) any dwelling-house, shop, room (whether or not used for the filling of cartridges for small arms with explosive in such circumstances that by virtue of section 46 of the the Act the occupier is not required to take out a licence under the Act), workshop (whether an exempted workshop or not), railway (whether worked by steam or otherwise), magazine, store, premises registered for the keeping of explosive, or furnace, kiln or fire not in any case being a protected work of Class 1;

(b) any building in the occupation of a Government Department, a council of a county, a corporation of a county or other borough, a council of an urban district or commissioners of a town and any building used for the purposes of the administration of justice in which in any case persons assemble for any purpose, any building in the care of the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, any building in which persons assemble for public worship or for educational purposes, any hospital or like institution, any factory, theatre, cinema, covered market or other covered building whatsoever in which the public are accustomed to assemble;

(c) any high voltage electrical generating station or substation or high voltage overhead or underground electrical cable. (For the purpose of this provision, the expression "high voltage" means a voltage normally exceeding 250 volts to earth or, in a system that is not earthed, 500 volts between conductors.)

(2) For the purpose of this Article and of any licence granted under the Act in relation to a store—

(a) a store shall be qualified to be a store of Division A if it and any exempted workshop used in connection therewithare at a distance exceeding 75 feet from each other and from any other protected work of Class 1, and exceeding 85 feet from any protected work of Class 2;

(b) a store shall be qualified to be a store of Division B if it and any exempted workshop used in connection therewith are at a distance exceeding 75 feet from each other and from any other protected work of Class 1, and exceeding 130 feet from any protected work of Class 2;

(c) a store shall be qualified to be a store of Division C if it and any exempted workshop used in connection therewith are at a distance exceeding 146 feet from each other and from any other protected work of Class 1, and exceeding 292 feet from any other protected work of Class 2;

(d) a store shall be qualified to be a store of Division D if it and any exempted workshop used in connection therewith are at a distance exceeding 230 feet from each other and from any other protected work of Class 1, and exceeding 460 feet from any protected work of Class 2;

(e) a store shall be qualified to be a store of Division E if it and any exempted workshop used in connection therewith are at a distance exceeding 352 feet from each other and from any other protected work of Class 1, and exceeding 704 feet from any protected work of Class 2:

Provided that—

(i) where the quantity of explosive kept at any one time in an exempted workshop does not exceed 100 lb., and that workshop is at a distance exceeding 75 feet from the store in connection with which it is used and from any other protected work of Class 1 or Class 2, that workshop shall for the purposes of this paragraph be disregarded and deemed not to be a protected work,

(ii) where a mineral or private railway worked by the licensee is not less than 75 feet from a store and all the doors of the store are kept closed and secured so long as any locomotive driven by steam is within a distance of 150 feet of the store that railway shall for the purposes of this paragraph be disregarded and deemed not to be a protected work, and

(iii) where in the case of any store existing at the date when this Order comes into operation there is aprotected work (not being an exempted workshop) occupied by the licensee and completely screened from the store by a natural or artificial mound of earth or other suitable material not less than 3 feet thick at the height of the eaves of the store and also existing at the said date, and the store would be qualified to be a store of Division C, D or E as the case may be if its distance from the said protected work were sufficient to satisfy the requirement in that respect of, as the case may be, subparagraph (c), (d) or (e) of this paragraph, then, if its said distance, though not sufficient, is not less than half that sufficient, to satisfy the requirement aforesaid, the store shall nevertheless be qualified to be a store of Division C, D or E as the case may be.

(3) (a) A store shall not be used for keeping explosive unless it is for the time being qualified to be a store of Division A, B, C, D or E.

(b) A store shall not be used for keeping explosive unless the licence for the time being in force under the Act in relation thereto specifies under which of the aforesaid divisions it is licensed, and it is for the time being qualified to be a store of that division, and, accordingly, if at the time a store is licensed under a division it is in fact not qualified to be a store of that division, or if, after having been licensed under a division, a store ceases to be qualified to be a store of that division, any use of that store for keeping explosive, so long as it continues not to be so qualified, shall be a breach of this Order.

(4) The quantity of explosive to be kept in a store qualified to be a store of Division A but not qualified to be a store of Division B, C, D or E shall not exceed—

(a) 150 lb. of general explosive and, in addition,

(b) 700 lb. of explosive contained in ammunition of the 1st Division of Class 6.

(5) The quantity of explosive to be kept in a store qualified to be a store of Division B but not qualified to be a store of Division C, D or E shall not exceed—

(a) 300 lb. of general explosive and, in addition,

(b) 4,000 lb. of explosive contained in ammunition of the 1st Division of Class 6.

(6) The quantity of explosive to be kept in a store qualified to be a store of Division C but not qualified to be a store of Division D or E shall not exceed—

(a) 1,000 lb. of general explosive and, in addition,

(b) 20,000 lb. of explosive contained in ammunition of the 1st Division of Class 6.

(7) The quantity of explosive to be kept in a store qualified to be a store of Division D but not qualified to be a store of Division E shall not exceed—

(a) 2,000 lb. of general explosive and, in addition,

(b) 20,000 lb. of explosive contained in ammunition of the 1st Division of Class 6.

(8) The quantity of explosive to be kept in a store qualified to be a store of Division E shall not exceed—

(a) 4,000 lb. of general explosive and, in addition,

(b) 20,000 lb. of explosive contained in ammunition of the 1st Division of Class 6.

(9) In any case where the quantity of general explosive kept is less than the maximum quantity allowed under, as the case may be, paragraph (4), (5), (6), (7) or (8) of this Article, then, notwithstanding anything contained in the said paragraphs, there may, for every pound by which the quantity kept is less than the said maximum quantity, be kept in addition 4 lb. of fireworks of the 2nd Division of Class 7.

(10) Nothing in this Article shall be taken to require a room used, in connection with a store, for the filling of cartridges for small arms to be at a greater distance than 75 feet from a workshop used in connection with the same store for the adaptation or preparation of explosives.

8. Where immediately before this Order comes into operation there is in force in relation to a store a licence duly granted under the Act, then nothing in Article 7 shall be taken to render that licence invalid until the date on which, if it had not been renewed, it would, apart from this Order, have expired, and it shall continue in force accordingly until the said date, and, until the said date, notwithstanding anything in sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (3) of Article 7—

(a) if the store complies with the provisions of Article 7, other than sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (3), it shall, so long as it complies as aforesaid, be deemed to comply wholly with Article 7;

(b) if the store does not comply as aforesaid but if it would, if this Order had not been made, have complied, in the case of a store licensed for gunpowder exclusively, with Article 3 of the Order made on the twenty-seventh day of November, 1875, relating to such stores, or, in the case of a store licensed for mixed explosives whether with or without gunpowder, with Article 4 of the Order made on the twenty-seventh day of November, 1875, relating to such stores, then it shall, so long as it would have complied as aforesaid, be deemed to comply with Article 7 of this Order.

9. The foregoing provisions of this Order shall not apply to a store with a continuing certificate, within the meaning of section 20 of the Act, for the keeping of gunpowder, and in lieu thereof the following shall apply—

(1) The store shall be so made and closed as to prevent unauthorised persons having access thereto and to secure it from danger from without.

(2) The distance from the store of any room used for the filling of cartridges for small arms with gunpowder in pursuance of section 46 of the Act, and of any workshop used for the adaptation or preparation of gunpowder in pursuance of section 47 of the Act shall be such as may be fixed by the Minister in giving his consent to the use of such room or workshop.

10. Notwithstanding anything hereinbefore contained—

(1) (a) There shall not be kept in a store any explosive which is not an authorised explosive or which is an authorised explosive of the 5th (fulminate) Class.

(b) In any proceedings for a breach of the provisions of sub-paragraph (a), it shall be a good defence to a charge that an unauthorised explosive was kept in a store to show that the explosive so kept was, at the time of the alleged offence, included in a current List of Authorised Explosives, that is to say, a list signed by a Government inspector which purported to contain the names or descriptions of the explosives which were for the time being authorised explosives.

(2) (a) There shall not be kept in a store any explosive (other than gunpowder, safety cartridges made with gunpowder, cartridges or charges for cannon or blasting made with gunpowder and not containing within themselves their own means of ignition, percussion caps, safety fuse or fireworks) except in pursuance of a certificate under this Order that the occupier of the store is a fit person to keep, during the continuance of the certificate, such of the explosives allowed to be kept in a store as are specified in the certificate.

(b) The certificate mentioned in the preceding sub-paragraph may be in the form set out in the schedule hereto or such modification thereof as may be suitable and may be granted by the Superintendent of the Garda Síochána in the district in which the store is situated.

(c) Where a Superintendent fails or refuses to grant such certificate, the applicant may appeal to the District Court, and if the District Court allows the appeal the Superintendent shall issue the certificate.

(d) A certificate shall be valid for such period, not exceeding one year, as the Superintendent or the Court (as the case may be) directs, unless sooner revoked.

(e) A certificate which was granted under the Order dated the twentieth day of April, 1883, relating to stores licensed for mixed explosives and which is valid at the date of coming into operation of this Order shall be deemed to have been granted under the provisions of this Article.

11. Any explosives, each of which may lawfully be kept alone in a store, may be kept in the same store, provided they are separated from each other by an intervening partition of such substance and character as will effectually prevent explosion or fire in the one communicating with the other, subject nevertheless to the following qualifications :—

(a) The various explosives of Classes 1, 2, 3 and 4, safety fuse belonging to the 1st Division of Class 6, and such of the various explosives of the 2nd Division of Class 6 as do not contain any exposed iron or steel, may be kept with each other without any intervening partition.

(b) The various explosives of the 1st Division of Class 6 may be kept with each other without any intervening partition.

(c) Such of the various explosives of the 2nd Division of Class 6 as contain any exposed iron or steel may be kept with each other without any intervening partition.

(d) The various explosives of the 3rd Division of Class 6 may be kept with each other without any intervening partition.

(e) The various explosives of Class 7 may be kept with each other without any intervening partition.

12. Where a room is used, in connection with a store, for the filling of any cartridge for small arms with explosive, there may be present in the room, in lieu of the 5 lb. of gunpowder mentioned in subsection 1 of section 46 of the Act, 5 lb. of any other explosive ; or, in lieu of any less amount of gunpowder not present in the room, that amount of other explosive.

13. Where a workshop is used, in connection with a store, for the adaptation or preparation of an explosive for use exclusively in the occupier's mine or quarry, or in some excavation or work carried on by him or under his control, there may be present in the workshop, in lieu of the 100 lb. of gunpowder mentioned in subsection (1) of section 47 of the Act, 100 lb. of any other explosive ; or, in lieu of any less amount of gunpowder not present in the room, that amount of other explosive.

14. The following general rules shall be observed in stores licensed for mixed explosives :—

(1) There shall not be at the same time in the store an amount of explosive exceeding the amount authorised to be kept in a store qualified to belong to the division under which such store is licensed.

(2) The store shall be used only for the keeping of explosive, and receptacles for, or tools or implements for work connected with the keeping of explosive.

(3) The interior of the store, and the benches, shelves and fittings therein, shall be so constructed or so lined or covered as to prevent the exposure of any iron or steel, or the detaching of any grit, iron, steel, or similar substance in such manner as to come into contact with the explosive, and such interior, benches, shelves and fittings shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be kept free from grit and otherwise clean ; provided that this rule, so far as it relates to the exposure of iron or steel or similar substance, shall not be obligatory in astore in which no explosive other than explosive of the 1st Division of the 6th (Ammunition) Class is kept.

(4) The store shall have attached thereto a sufficient lightning conductor, unless it is made by excavation, or unless it is licensed under Division A or B, or unless it contains exclusively explosive of the 1st Division of the 6th (Ammunition) Class.

(5) Before repairs are done to or in any part of a store, the store shall, so far as practicable, be cleaned by the removal of all explosive and the thorough washing out of the store ; and after such cleaning these rules shall cease to apply to the store until explosive is again taken thereinto; provided that this rule shall not be obligatory in a store in which no explosive other than explosive of the 1st Division of the 6th (Ammunition) Class is kept.

(6) Except after such cleaning, all tools and implements used in or in any repairs to the store shall be made only of wood, copper, or brass, or some soft metal or material, or shall be covered with some safe and suitable material ; provided that this rule shall not be obligatory in a store in which no explosive other than explosive of the 1st Division of the 6th (Ammunition) Class is kept.

(7) No person shall bring into the store any fire, lucifer matches, mechanical lighters or any substance or article likely to cause explosion or fire or any iron, steel or grit ; but this rule shall not apply to an artificial light of such construction or character as not to cause any danger of fire or explosion ; and so much of this rule as applies to iron, steel or grit need not be observed in a store in which no explosive other than explosive of the 1st Division of the 6th (Ammunition) Class is kept.

(8) Due precautions shall be taken by the use of suitable working clothes without pockets, suitable shoes, searching and otherwise, or by some of such means, for the prevention of breaches of the preceding rule ; and, in the case of a store in which any explosive which is liable to be dangerously affected by water is kept, due precautions shall be taken to exclude water.

(9) No person shall smoke in any part of the store.

(10) A person under the age of sixteen years shall not be employed in or enter the store, except in the presence and under the supervision of some person over the age of twenty-one years.

(11) There shall be constantly kept affixed in the store either outside or inside, in such manner as to be easily read, a copy of these general rules and of the special rules (if any) made for such store, and of so much of the licence as indicates under which division the store is licensed, and of any parts of the Act which are required by the Minister to be affixed : provided, however, that in the case of a store licensed at the date of coming into operation of this Order, it shall be sufficient if, in lieu of a copy of these rules, there is displayed a copy of the corresponding rules contained in Part V of the Order (repealed by this Order) made on the twenty-seventh day of November, 1875, relating to stores licensed for mixed explosives.

SCHEDULE.

GARDA SÍOCHÁNA

Serial No :.....................

CERTIFICATE FOR KEEPING EXPLOSIVES IN LICENSED STORES.

I hereby certify that ............................................................ ......... of ............................................................ .. is a fit person to keep during the continuance of this certificate at his store licensed for explosives at ............................................................ ..................... the following explosives, namely ............................................................ ............................................................ .................. .................................. to such an amount as may lawfully be kept in such store under the Explosives Act, 1875, and Orders made thereunder.

This certificate continues until the ......... day of ................., or until any earlier date on which it is revoked.

Signed .............................................

Ceannfort.

District : .................................... Date : ...........................

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Government, this 15th day of March, 1955.

JOHN A. COSTELLO,

Taoiseach.