192. Drilling, charging, stemming and firing of shot-holes.
(1)No drill shall be used for drilling a shot-hole unless it allows a clearance of at least 0.3 centimeters over the diameter of the cartridge of explosives, which it is intended to use.(2)No shot-hole shall be charged before it is thoroughly cleaned.(3)Before any shot-hole is charged, the direction of the hole shall, where practicable, be distinctly marked on the roof or other convenient place.(4)No detonator shall be inserted into a priming cartridge until immediately before it is to be used, however that in case of wet workings, priming cartridges may be prepared at the nearest convenient dry place and such primed cartridges shall be carried to the working place in a securely closed case or container.(5)Detonators once inserted into a priming cartridge shall not be taken out.(6)In belowground workings the explosive used in any shot-hole shall be of the same type.(7)In opencast mines, to use two types of explosives in any shot-hole, the manager shall frame and enforce standing orders for the safe use of explosives and a copy of the same shall be submitted to the Regional Inspector.(8)The shot-firer shall, to the best of his judgement, ensure that no shot-hole is over-charged or undercharged, having regard to the task to be performed.(9)Shots shall be fired electrically or by any other means or instruments or apparatus as approved by the Chief Inspector.(10)Every shot-hole shall be stemmed with sufficient and suitable non-inflammable stemming so as to prevent the shot from blowing out.(11)Only sand loosely filled in, or soft clay lightly pressed home, or a compact but not hard mixture of sand and clay or water shall be used as stemming and in no case, shall coal dust be used for the purpose of stemming.(12)In charging or stemming a shot-hole, no metallic tool, scraper or rod shall be used and no explosive shall be forcibly pressed into a hole of insufficient size.(13)No shot shall be fired except in a properly drilled, charged and stemmed shot-hole.(14)All surplus explosives shall be removed from the vicinity of a shot hole before connecting the shot firing cable to the shot holes.(15)As far as practicable, a shot shall be fired by the same shot-firer who charged it.(16)No shot-hole shall be charged except those which are to be fired in that round and all shot-holes which have been charged shall be fired in one round.(17)Where a large number of shots have to be fired, shot-firing shall, as far as practicable, be carried out between shifts.(18)No person shall remove any stemming, or pull out any detonator lead, or remove any explosive from a shot-hole either before firing or after a misfire, or bore out a hole that has once been charged, or deepen or tamper with empty holes or sockets.
