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Council Directive 92/104/EEC of 3 December 1992 on the minimum requirements for improving the safety and health protection of workers in surface and underground mineral-extracting industries (twelfth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
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A responsible person who has the skills and competence required for this duty, in accordance with the national laws and/or practices, and who has been appointed by the employer, must at all times be in charge of every workplace when workers are present.
The employer may personally assume responsibility for the workplace as referred to in the first subparagraph, if he has the skills and competence required for the purpose, in accordance with national laws and/or practices.
To ensure workers’ safety and health protection during all operations undertaken, the necessary supervision must be provided by persons having the skills and competence for this duty, in accordance with the national laws and/or practices, having been appointed by the employer or on his behalf and acting on his behalf.
Where required by the safety and health document, a supervisor must visit occupied workstations at least once during each shift.
The employer may personally undertake the supervision referred to in the first and second subparagraphs if he has the skills and competence required for the purpose, in accordance with national laws and/or practices.
When workers are present at any workplace, there must be a sufficient number of workers with the requisite skills, experience and training to perform the tasks assigned to them.
Workers must be given the necessary information, instructions, training and re-training to ensure their health and safety.
The employer must ensure that workers receive comprehensible instructions so as not to endanger their safety and health or those of other workers.
Written instructions specifying rules to be observed to ensure the safety and health of workers and the safe use of equipment must be drawn up for every workplace.
These must include information on the use of emergency equipment and action to be taken in the event of an emergency at or near the workplace.
Safe working methods must be applied at each workplace or in respect of each activity.
Where required by the safety and health document, a system of work permits must be introduced for carrying out both hazardous activities and usually straightforward activities which may interact with other activities to cause serious hazards.
Work permits must be issued by a person in charge before work starts and must specify the conditions to be fulfilled and the precautions to be taken before, during and after work.
The employer must ensure that the measures taken to protect the safety and health of the workers, including the safety and health management system, are regularly reviewed to ensure compliance with this Directive.
Selection, installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance of mechanical and electrical equipment must take place with due regard for the safety and health of workers, taking into consideration other provisions of this Directive and of Directives 89/392/EEC(1) and 89/655/EEC(2).
If located in an area within which risk of fire or explosion from ignition of gas, vapour or volatile liquid exists, or is likely to exist, equipment must be suitable for use in that area.
Equipment must, if necessary, be fitted with suitable protective devices and fail-safe systems.
Mechanical equipment and plant must be of adequate strength and free from patent defect and suitable for the purpose for which it is intended.
Electrical equipment and plant must be of sufficient size and power for the purpose for which it is intended.
Mechanical and electrical equipment and installations must be so installed and protected as to prevent danger.
A suitable scheme should be set up providing for the systematic examination, maintenance and, where appropriate, testing of mechanical and electrical equipment and plant.
All maintenance, examination and testing of any part of the plant and equipment must be carried out by a competent person.
Records of examinations and tests must be made and kept in an appropriate manner.
Adequate safety equipment must be maintained ready for use and in good working order at all times.
Maintenance must be undertaken with due regard to operations.
Where required by the safety and health document, monitoring devices measuring gas concentrations at specified places automatically and continuously, automatic alarms and devices to cut off power automatically from electrical installations and internal combustion engines must be provided.
Where automatic measurements are provided for, the values measured must be recorded and kept as stipulated in the safety and health document.
The use of any open flame and the execution of any work that may give rise to an ignition hazard is prohibited unless adequate safety precautions are taken to prevent the occurrence of fires or explosions.
their suppression at source; or
their extraction at source or removal; or
diliction accumulations of such substances,
in such a way that workers are not at risk.
The system must be capable of dispersing these harmful substances in such a way that workers are not at risk.
In such cases, a sufficient number of workers trained to use such equipment must be present at the workplace.
The equipment must be suitably stored and maintained.
Provision must be made for fast and effective fire-fighting.
Such signs must be placed at appropriate points and be made to last.
Operations involving the storage, transport and use of explosives and initiating devices must be carried out by duly authorized and competent persons.
Such operations must be organized and performed in such a way that there is no risk to workers.
If means of transport are used on traffic routes, a sufficient safety clearance must be provided for pedestrians.
are protected against inclement weather conditions and if necessary against falling objects;
are not exposed to harmful noise levels nor to harmful external influences such as gases, vapours or dust;
are able to leave their workstations swiftly in the event of danger or are able to be rapidly assisted;
cannot slip or fall.
Emergency doors should not be so locked or fastened that they cannot be easily and immediately opened by any person who may require to use them in an emergency.
The emergency routes and exits, and the traffic routes and doors giving access to them, must be free from obstruction so that they can be used at any time without hindrance.
Safety drills must be held at regular intervals at all workplaces at which workers are usually present.
The main purpose of such drills is to train and check the skills of workers to whom specific duties have been assigned in the event of emergency involving the use, handling or operation of emergency equipment.
Where appropriate, workers should also be drilled in the correct use, handling or operation of that equipment.
This equipment must be indicated by suitable signs and easily accessible.
Clearly visible first-aid instruction in the event of accidents must be displayed in these rooms.
They must be signposted in accordance with the national regulations transposing Directive 92/58/EEC into law.
This equipment must be suitably marked and easily accessible.
Where that is impossible, workers must be provided with personal lamps.
Changing rooms must be easily accessible, be of sufficient capacity and be provided with seating.
If circumstances so require (e.g. dangerous substances, humidity, dirt), lockers for work clothes must be separate from those for ordinary clothes.
Provision must be made to enable wet work clothes to be dried.
Provision must be made for separate shower rooms or separate use of shower rooms for men and women.
The showers must be equipped with hot and cold water.
Such washbasins must be separate for, or used separately by, men and women when so required for reasons of propriety.
Separate facilities must be provided in the vicinity of workstations, rest rooms, changing rooms and rooms housing showers or washbasins, with an adequate number of lavatories and washbasins.
Provisions must be made for separate lavatories or separate use of lavatories for men and women.
In the case of underground mineral-extracting industries, the sanitary installations referred to in this section may be located on the surface.
Overburden dumps, spoil heaps and other tips, as well as settling lagoons, must be designed, constructed, operated and maintained in such a way as to ensure their stability, as well as the safety and health of workers.
Workplaces must be designed, constructed, erected, operated, supervised and maintained to withstand the environmental forces anticipated.
They must have a structure and solidity appropriate to the nature of their use.
Workplaces containing workstations must be adequately insulated against heat, bearing in mind the type of undertaking involved and the physical activity of the workers.
They must not be positioned so as to constitute a hazard to workers when open.
It must be possible to open them from the inside at any time without special assistance.
It must be possible to open the doors when the workplaces are occupied.
They must be fitted with easily identifiable and accessible emergency shut-down devices and, unless they open automatically in the event of a power failure, it must also be possible to open them manually.
If a forced ventilation system is used, it must be maintained in working order.
Any breakdown must be indicated by a control system where this is necessary for workers’ health.
Any deposit or dirt likely to create an immediate danger to the health of workers by polluting the atmosphere must be removed without delay.
This provision does not apply if the workers are employed in offices or similar workrooms providing equivalent relaxation during breaks.
Appropriate measures should be taken for the protection of non-smokers against discomfort caused by tobacco smoke.
Pregnant women and nursing mothers must be able to lie down to rest in appropriate conditions.
Workplaces must be organized to take account of disabled workers, if necessary.
This provision applies in particular to the doors, passageways, staircases, showers, washbasins, lavatories and workstations used or occupied directly by disabled workers.
OJ No L 183, 29.6.1989, p. 9. Directive amended by Directive 91/368/EEC (OJ No L 198, 22.7.1991, p. 16).
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