Operating a quarry or mine in this division — whether you extract stone, sand, gravel, clay, salt, peat or chemical minerals — is high-hazard work. The Quarries Regulations 1999 are the safety regime for surface workings. Underground rock-salt mining falls under the Mines Regulations 2014. On top of the site-safety regime sit the general workplace duties, environmental permits and — where you blast — explosives licensing.
This guide gives you the picture before you start: which regimes apply, which regulators enforce them and where to go for the detail.
What you need to do
Work through the guides below in order. The spine covers running a safe quarry and employing people. The permits guide covers the consents you need before you start. The checklist lets you confirm you have covered everything.
-
Set up and run a safe quarry or mine
The universal spine. Follow this for your health and safety duties, the Quarries Regulations 1999 quarry-safety regime, COSHH controls for respirable crystalline silica and dust, work equipment, manual handling, fire safety, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection.
-
Get the permits and consents for quarrying and mining
The pre-operational gateways. Follow this for minerals planning permission, environmental permits for discharges and mineral processing, explosives licensing for blasting, and — where they bite — COMAH, habitats scrutiny for peat extraction and the Mines Regulations for underground salt.
-
Confirm you have covered everything
Finish with the quarrying and mining compliance checklist to confirm your obligations are met.
Your guides
- Set up and run a safe quarry or mine — the universal spine
- Get the permits and consents for quarrying and mining — the pre-operational gateways
- Quarrying and mining: compliance checklist — confirm you have covered everything
Legal basis
Primary legislation and key regulations
Read it on legislation.gov.uk (opens in a new tab) legislation.gov.uk