Division 07
Metal Ore Mining
Requirements for all metal ore mining
These requirements apply to all business activities in this division.
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 — general duties
Enforced by HSE
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
General duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees and others affected by the work. Mining is high-hazard — ground instability, dust, plant and confined / underground working all engage HASWA. NI: Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978.
Employers' Liability Insurance
Enforced by HSE
Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969
Compulsory for any business employing at least one person.
UK GDPR + Data Protection Act 2018
Enforced by ICO
Data Protection Act 2018; UK GDPR (retained EU law)
Applies to any business processing personal data — staff, customers, suppliers. ICO data protection fee payable unless specifically exempt.
Equality Act 2010 — protected characteristics
Enforced by EHRC
Equality Act 2010
Discrimination, harassment and victimisation prohibited across nine protected characteristics in employment and services. NI: separate equality legislation enforced by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
Enforced by LOCAL_FIRE_AUTHORITY
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
The responsible person must carry out a fire risk assessment and maintain fire-safety arrangements at workshops, offices and surface buildings. Devolved: Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006; Fire and Rescue Services (NI) Order 2006.
Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 — fire safety duties
Enforced by LOCAL_FIRE_AUTHORITY
Fire (Scotland) Act 2005
Scottish equivalent of the Fire Safety Order: the duty holder must carry out a fire risk assessment and put in place and maintain fire-safety arrangements at workshops, offices and surface buildings, enforced by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 — fire safety duties
Enforced by LOCAL_FIRE_AUTHORITY
Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006
Northern Ireland equivalent of the Fire Safety Order: the duty holder must carry out a fire risk assessment and put in place and maintain fire-safety arrangements at workshops, offices and surface buildings, enforced by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)
Enforced by HSE
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002
Assess, prevent or control exposure to hazardous substances; monitor exposure and provide health surveillance where required. Central to metal-ore mining — respirable crystalline silica and ore dusts from drilling, blasting, crushing and haulage, and heavy-metal dusts from sulphide ores, all engage COSHH. NI: Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003.
Provision and Use of Work Equipment (PUWER)
Enforced by HSE
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
Work equipment — drilling rigs, excavators, crushers, conveyors, winding and haulage plant — must be suitable, maintained, inspected and safe to use, with adequate guarding. Reads with LOLER 1998 for lifting / winding equipment and the Mines Regulations 2014 for mine-specific plant duties.
Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
Enforced by HSE
Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
Avoid hazardous manual handling so far as reasonably practicable, then assess and reduce the risk of injury — handling of tools, supports, drill steels and materials underground and at the surface is routine in mining. NI: Manual Handling Operations Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992.
Mines Regulations 2014 — mine health and safety
Enforced by HSE
Mines Regulations 2014
The consolidated GB health-and-safety regime for mines. A mine operator must appoint a single duty holder (mine manager), prepare and maintain a health-and-safety document and risk assessments, and control the principal mining hazards — ground movement and shafts/roadways, fire and explosion (including firedamp where present), inrush of gas or water, transport and winding, and respirable dust and emergency escape. Applies to every metal-ore mine in Great Britain regardless of size. Enforced by HSE. NI: parallel mine health-and-safety provision applies.
Minerals planning permission
Enforced by LOCAL_AUTHORITY
Town and Country Planning Act 1990
Working minerals — including opening, extending or resuming a metal-ore mine — is development requiring planning permission from the mineral planning authority (in England the county / unitary authority), normally with conditions on restoration and aftercare and subject to periodic review of mineral permissions. The right to work the ore is a separate private matter (mineral rights / a mining lease from the landowner), which the planning consent does not confer. Devolved: planning is a Scottish / Welsh / NI competence — equivalent minerals-planning consent applies under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, the planning regime in Wales, and the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011.
Minerals planning permission (Scotland)
Enforced by LOCAL_AUTHORITY
Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997
Scottish equivalent of minerals planning permission: working minerals — including opening, extending or resuming a metal-ore mine — is development requiring planning permission from the Scottish planning authority, normally with conditions on restoration and aftercare. The right to work the ore is a separate private matter (mineral rights / a mining lease from the landowner), which the planning consent does not confer.
Minerals planning permission (Northern Ireland)
Enforced by LOCAL_AUTHORITY
Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011
Northern Ireland equivalent of minerals planning permission: working minerals — including opening, extending or resuming a metal-ore mine — is development requiring planning permission from the NI district council / Department for Infrastructure, normally with conditions on restoration and aftercare. The right to work the ore is a separate private matter (mineral rights / a mining lease from the landowner), which the planning consent does not confer.