EXPLANATORY NOTE
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 which will cease to have effect at the commencement of the Act.
The provisions set out as regulations in the schedule to this order apply above ground at every mine of coal, stratified ironstone, shale or fireclay in relation to any railway line which is deemed (by virtue of subsection (3) or (5) of s. 180 of the Act) to form part of the mine and which is (except in the case of reg. 2) of a gauge not less than 4 feet 8½ inches. These regulations require that certain points rods and signal wires must be protected, and certain ground levers installed as specified, in the interests of the safety of persons employed at such mines. It is the duty of the mine manager to ensure that appropriate equipment and safety devices are provided. The regulations also make provision with regard to the proper operation of points; the safe movement of vehicles; the securing and positioning of stationary vehicles; the conveyance of persons in trains and the passage of persons on foot; the stacking of materials beside lines; and the minimum age for locomotive drivers and shunters. The regulations comprise, and will at the commencement of the Act replace, provisions of the regulations specified in art. 1 (1) of the order.