These requirements apply to all business activities in this division.
compliance
Great_Britain
Ongoing
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.
insurance
Great_Britain
Annual
Employers' Liability Insurance
Enforced by:
HSE
Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969
Compulsory for any business employing at least one person.
registration
Uk
Annual
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.
compliance
Great_Britain
Ongoing
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.
compliance
England_Wales
Ongoing
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.
compliance
Great_Britain
Ongoing
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.
compliance
Great_Britain
Ongoing
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.
compliance
Great_Britain
Ongoing
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.
compliance
Great_Britain
Ongoing
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.
permit
England_Wales
Per_Project
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.