The Explosives Regulations 2014

Made: 23rd June 2014

Laid before Parliament: 1st July 2014

Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1

The Secretary of State is a Minister designated for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 in relation to the placing on the market, transfer and safety of explosives for civil use.

It appears to the Secretary of State that it is expedient for certain references to provisions of EU instruments to be construed as references to those provisions as amended from time to time.

The Secretary of State makes —in part, regulation 8 and paragraph 15 of Schedule 11,regulations 39 to 42 and Schedules 9, 10 and 12, andto the extent that they relate to the provisions in (a) and (b) above, regulations 2(1), 3(4)(b) and (14) and (17) and 43 to 45,

The Secretary of State makes —

in part, regulation 8 and paragraph 15 of Schedule 11,

regulations 39 to 42 and Schedules 9, 10 and 12, and

to the extent that they relate to the provisions in (a) and (b) above, regulations 2(1), 3(4)(b) and (14) and (17) and 43 to 45,

under section 2(2) of that Act.

The Secretary of State makes the other provisions of these Regulations —in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 15(1), (2), (3)(a) and (c), (4), (5), (6)(b) and (9), 18(2)(za) and (a), 43(2), (4), (5) and (6), 80(1) and 82(3)(a) of, and paragraphs 1(1), (2), (3) and (4), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6(1), 7, 12, 15(1), 16, 18 and 20 of Schedule 3 to, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (“the 1974 Act”); andapart from the modifications referred to in the next paragraph, for the purpose of giving effect without modifications to proposals submitted —by the Health and Safety Executive under section 11(3) of the 1974 Act after carrying out consultations in accordance with section 50(3) of the 1974 Act ; andby the Office for Nuclear Regulation under section 81(1)(a)(iv) of the Energy Act 2013 after carrying out consultations in accordance with section 81(3) of that Act.It appears to the Secretary of State that—the modifications to the Acts referred to in paragraphs 2 to 8 of Part 1 of Schedule 13;the modifications to the instruments referred to in paragraphs 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 24 and 30 of Part 2 of that Schedule; andthe repeals in relation to the Acts marked with an asterisk in Part 1 of Schedule 14,

The Secretary of State makes the other provisions of these Regulations —

in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 15(1), (2), (3)(a) and (c), (4), (5), (6)(b) and (9), 18(2)(za) and (a), 43(2), (4), (5) and (6), 80(1) and 82(3)(a) of, and paragraphs 1(1), (2), (3) and (4), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6(1), 7, 12, 15(1), 16, 18 and 20 of Schedule 3 to, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (“the 1974 Act”); and

apart from the modifications referred to in the next paragraph, for the purpose of giving effect without modifications to proposals submitted —

by the Health and Safety Executive under section 11(3) of the 1974 Act after carrying out consultations in accordance with section 50(3) of the 1974 Act ; and

by the Office for Nuclear Regulation under section 81(1)(a)(iv) of the Energy Act 2013 after carrying out consultations in accordance with section 81(3) of that Act.

It appears to the Secretary of State that—

the modifications to the Acts referred to in paragraphs 2 to 8 of Part 1 of Schedule 13;

the modifications to the instruments referred to in paragraphs 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 24 and 30 of Part 2 of that Schedule; and

the repeals in relation to the Acts marked with an asterisk in Part 1 of Schedule 14,

are expedient as set out in section 80(1) of the 1974 Act.

It also appears to the Secretary of State not to be appropriate to consult bodies in respect of those modifications and repeals in accordance with section 80(4) of the 1974 Act.

PART 1 — INTRODUCTION

Citation and commencement

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Explosives Regulations 2014 and, save as provided in paragraph (2), come into force on 1st October 2014.

• (2) Regulations 33(7) and 36, and regulations 43 and 44 and Schedule 11 to the extent that those provisions relate to regulations 33(7) and 36, come into force on 5th April 2015.

Interpretation

2

• (1) In these Regulations —

• “the 1974 Act” means the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974;

• “the 2005 Regulations” means the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005 ;

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• “ammonium nitrate blasting intermediate” means a substance assigned in accordance with the United Nations Recommendations the U.N. no. 3375;

• “approved body” has the meaning given to it in regulation 69 (approved bodies);

• “authorised defence site” has the meaning given in regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 1998 ;

• “authorised representative” means a person established in the United Kingdom who has received a written mandate from the manufacturer to act on the manufacturer’s behalf in relation to specified tasks;

• “black powder” means an intimate mixture, with or without sulphur, of charcoal or other carbon with potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate, whether the mixture is in meal, granular, compressed or pelletised form, being an explosive substance assigned in accordance with the United Nations Recommendations the U.N. no. 0027 or 0028;

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• “centre point”, in relation to a store or a building, means the centre point of the store or building determined as far as is reasonably possible;

• “chief officer of police”in relation to England and Wales, has the same meaning as in section 101(1) of the Police Act 1996 ; andin relation to Scotland, means the person appointed to the office of chief constable under section 7(1)(a) of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 ; andin relation to an area, means the chief officer of police for that area;

• “civil explosive” means an explosive which has been or would be classified in accordance with the United Nations Recommendations as falling within Class 1 but it does not include—ammunition the acquisition of which is regulated or prohibited by virtue of the Firearms Acts 1968 to 1997 ;any explosive which it is shown is intended for lawful use by the armed forces or the police of any country; ora pyrotechnic article; ......

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• “Class 1” means Class 1 in respect of explosives or the classification of dangerous goods as set out in the United Nations Recommendations;

• “the Commission” means the Commission of the European Union;

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• “conformity assessment” means the process demonstrating whether the essential safety requirements relating to a civil explosive have been fulfilled;

• “conformity assessment body” means a person who performs conformity assessment activities, including calibration, testing, certification and inspection;

• “declaration of conformity” means a declaration of conformity required to be drawn up in accordance with regulation 41;

• “desensitised explosive” means —a solid explosive substance which has been wetted with water or alcohol or diluted with one or more other substances; ora liquid explosive substance which has been dissolved or suspended in water or one or more other substances,to form a homogeneous mixture so as to suppress its explosive properties and which, without that treatment, would be classified in accordance with the United Nations Recommendations as falling within Class 1;

• “designated standard” has the meaning given to it in regulation 2A;

• “the Directive” means Directive 2014/28/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the harmonisation of the laws of the member States relating to the making available on the market and supervision of explosives for civil uses (recast) ...;

• “disposes”, in relation to explosives and explosive-contaminated items, means destroying the explosives or explosive-contaminated items or otherwise rendering them harmless;

• “distributor” means a person in the supply chain, other than a manufacturer or an importer, who makes a civil explosive available on the market and “distributes” in relation to Part 11 and “distribution” in relation to Part 13 are to be construed accordingly

• “economic operator” means a manufacturer, authorised representative, importer, distributor or any person who engages in the storage, use, transfer, import, export or trading of civil explosives;

• “enforcing authority”, in relation to Part 13, means the Executive;

• “essential safety requirements” means the requirements set out in Schedule 9 (essential safety requirements);

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• “the Executive” means the Health and Safety Executive ;

• “explosive” means —any explosive article or explosive substance which would —if packaged for transport, be classified in accordance with the United Nations Recommendations as falling within Class 1; orbe classified in accordance with the United Nations Recommendations as —being unduly sensitive or so reactive as to be subject to spontaneous reaction and accordingly too dangerous to transport, andfalling within Class 1; ora desensitised explosive,but it does not include an explosive substance produced as part of a manufacturing process which thereafter reprocesses it in order to produce a substance or preparation which is not an explosive substance;

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

• “explosives certificate” has the meaning given in regulation 4(1);

• “explosive substance” means a substance or preparation, not including a substance or preparation in a solely gaseous form or in the form of vapour, which is —capable by chemical reaction in itself of producing gas at such a temperature and pressure and at such a speed as could cause damage to surroundings; ordesigned to produce an effect by heat, light, sound, gas or smoke, or a combination of these as a result of a non-detonative, self-sustaining, exothermic chemical reaction;

• “firearm” has the meaning given in section 57(1) of the Firearms Act 1968 ;

• “fireworks” means the explosive articles assigned in accordance with the United Nations Recommendations any of the U.N. nos. 0333 to 0337;

• “GB nuclear site” has the meaning given in section 68 of the Energy Act 2013 ;

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• “harbour” means a harbour which is within the jurisdiction of a harbour authority and includes—the areas of water within the jurisdiction of that harbour authority; andland within the jurisdiction of, or occupied by, the harbour authority and used in connection with the loading and unloading of ships,but does not include the areas of water which are within the jurisdiction not only of the harbour authority but also of another harbour authority and which are used primarily by ships using berths within the harbour of that other harbour authority;

• “harbour authority” has the meaning given in section 57 of the Harbours Act 1964 ;

• “hazard type” means any of hazard type 1 explosive, hazard type 2 explosive, hazard type 3 explosive or hazard type 4 explosive;

• “hazard type 1 explosive” means an explosive which, as a result of, or as a result of any effect of, the conditions of its storage or process of manufacture, has a mass explosion hazard;

• “hazard type 2 explosive” means an explosive which, as a result of, or as a result of any effect of, the conditions of its storage or process of manufacture, has a serious projectile hazard but does not have a mass explosion hazard;

• “hazard type 3 explosive” means an explosive which, as a result of, or as a result of any effect of, the conditions of its storage or process of manufacture, has a fire hazard and either a minor blast hazard or a minor projectile hazard, or both, but does not have a mass explosion hazard;

• “hazard type 4 explosive” means an explosive which, as a result of, or as a result of any effect of, the conditions of its storage or process of manufacture, has a fire hazard or slight explosion hazard, or both, with only local effect;

• “headquarters” means a headquarters for the time being specified in Schedule 2 to the Visiting Forces and International Headquarters (Application of Law) Order 1999 ;

• “Her Majesty's Forces” means any of the naval, military or air forces of the Crown, whether raised inside or outside the United Kingdom and whether any such force is a regular, auxiliary or reserve force, and includes any civilian employee of the department of the Secretary of State having responsibility for defence attached to those forces;

• “holder” in relation to an explosives certificate means the person named in the explosives certificate as a person fit to acquire, or to acquire and keep, explosives;

• “importer”, in relation to civil explosives, means any person who—is established in the United Kingdom and places a civil explosive from a country outside of the United Kingdom on the market; oris established in Northern Ireland and places a civil explosive on the market that has been supplied to them for distribution, consumption or use in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge, from an EEA state;

• “licence”, save in the definition of “prohibited person”, means a licence for the manufacture or storage of explosives granted under regulation 13 and includes a varied licence;

• “licensee” means a person who has been granted a licence under regulation 13 and includes a person to whom a licence is transferred and a person treated under regulation 18 as being licensed;

• “licensing authority” has the meaning assigned to it by Schedule 1;

• “local authority”, apart from in paragraph 6(1)(c) of Schedule 11, means, in relation to —the City of London, the Common Council for the City of London;an area in the rest of London, the London borough council for that area;an area where there is a metropolitan county fire and rescue authority, that authority;the Isles of Scilly, the Council of the Isles of Scilly;an area in the rest of England, the county council for that area or where there is no county council for that area, the district council for that area;an area in Scotland, the council for the local government area; andan area in Wales, the county council or the county borough council for that area;

• “making available on the market” means any supply for distribution, consumption or use on the market of Great Britain in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge, and related expressions must be construed accordingly;

• “manufacture” includes—in relation to explosive articles, their repair, modification, disassembly or unmaking;in relation to explosive substances, their reprocessing, modification or adaptation;but it does not include the packing, unpacking, re-packing, labelling or testing of explosives or the division of an amount of explosives stored in bulk into smaller amounts and the placing of those smaller amounts into containers;

• “manufacturer”, in relation to civil explosives, means a person who—manufactures a civil explosive, or has a civil explosive designed or manufactured; andmarkets that civil explosive under that person’s name or trade mark or uses it for their own purposes;

• “market surveillance authority” means the Executive;

• “mine” means an excavation or system of excavations, including all such excavations to which a common system of ventilation is provided, made for the purpose of, or in connection with, the getting, wholly or substantially by means involving the employment of persons below ground, of minerals (whether in their natural state or in solution or suspension) or products of minerals;

• “mobile explosives manufacturing unit” means a moveable unit, whether mounted on a vehicle or not, for manufacturing and charging explosives from dangerous goods that are not explosives, with the unit consisting of various tanks, bulk containers and related equipment;

• “new nuclear build site” has the meaning given in regulation 2A of the Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 1998 ;

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• “the ONR” means the Office for Nuclear Regulation ;

• “ONR regulated site” has the meaning given in paragraph (11);

• “percussion caps” means items intended for use in small arms ammunition or small arms assigned in accordance with the United Nations Recommendations the UN no. 0044 or 0378;

• “place on the market” means the first making available on the market of Great Britain, and related expressions must be construed accordingly;

• “police force”, for the purposes of regulations 3(10)(b) and (11)(e) and 27(3)(e), includes—the police force known as the British Transport Police Force ; andthe constabulary known as the Civil Nuclear Constabulary by virtue of section 52(1) of the Energy Act 2004 ;

• “preparation” means a mixture of two or more substances or a solution of any substance or substances;