This order is made under the Mines and Quarries Act, 1954, s. 190, which empowers the Minister of Fuel and Power to re-enact (to the extent to which they could be enacted in regulations made under the Act and subject to modifications of the kind specified in that section) the provisions of regulations, certain orders and enactments which will cease to have effect at the commencement of the Act.

The provisions set out as regulations in the first schedule to this order apply to mines of coal, stratified ironstone, shale and fireclay, and make provision with regard to ventilation below ground in such mines. Part II of the regulations requires the mine manager to secure that certain intake airways are normally kept free of inflammable gas, and specifies certain requirements as regards the making of determinations of the percentage of inflammable gas present in the general body of the air and the measurement of the quantity of the air passing certain points. Part III deals with firedamp detectors, Part IV with ventilating machinery, Part V with the prevention of leakages of air between certain airways and Part VI with the installation and use of ventilating fans below ground. These regulations comprise, and will at the commencement of the Act replace, provisions of the regulations, order and enactments specified in the second schedule to the order.