Article

Permissible Explosives and Regulations for Breaking Down Coal

225 ILCS 705/20.01— Black blasting powder shall not be used to break down coal on shift
225 ILCS 705/20.02— The breaking down of coal with compressed air, or by some mechanical or chemical-mechanical device which does not emit spark or flame, while men are in a mine, is permitted
225 ILCS 705/20.03
225 ILCS 705/20.04
225 ILCS 705/20.05— If the State Mine Inspector or the accredited representatives of the coal operators or coal miners shall desire to have said sample tested for content, they shall send the same to the United States Bureau of Mines for that purpose
225 ILCS 705/20.06
225 ILCS 705/20.07— Explosives shall be stored in magazines constructed in accordance with plans that shall be approved by the State Mine Inspector of the district in which the mine is located
225 ILCS 705/20.08— Every magazine shall be provided with a wooden floor which shall be kept free from grit and dirt
225 ILCS 705/20.09— Any person, firm or corporation changing any stamp, brand, or specification denoting the contents of any package or cartridge shall be subject to the penalties provided for herein
225 ILCS 705/20.10— The area surrounding magazines for not less than 25 feet in all directions shall be kept free of rubbish, dry grass, or other materials of a combustible nature
225 ILCS 705/20.11— If the magazines are illuminated electrically, the lamps shall be of explosion-proof type, installed and wired so as to present minimum fire and contact hazards
225 ILCS 705/20.12— Only non-metallic tools shall be used for opening containers
225 ILCS 705/20.13— Smoking, carrying smokers' articles, or open flame is prohibited in or near any magazine
225 ILCS 705/20.14— Individual containers used to carry permissible explosives or detonators shall be constructed of substantial non-conductive material
225 ILCS 705/20.15— If explosives and detonators are hauled in the same explosives car or in the same special container, they shall be separated by at least a 4 inch, substantially fastened, hardwood partition or the equivalent
225 ILCS 705/20.16— Explosives and detonators kept near the working faces shall be stored in separate closed containers of substantial, non-conductive material, located not less than 15 feet from rail or power lines
225 ILCS 705/20.17— Underground section boxes or magazines shall be of substantial construction and placed in a crosscut or idle room neck at least 10 feet from roadways or trolley wires and in a reasonably dry and well-rock-dusted place
225 ILCS 705/20.18— When section boxes or magazines are used, the explosives and detonators shall be kept in separate boxes or magazines
225 ILCS 705/20.19— Not more than a 48-hour supply of explosives, including any surplus remaining from the previous day, shall be stored underground in boxes or magazines
225 ILCS 705/20.20— No miner or other person shall alter or change any drill hole, by increasing its depth, diameter or otherwise, after the same shall have been approved by the driller and shooter or shot firer
225 ILCS 705/20.21— No driller and shooter or shot firer, whether voluntarily, or by command or request of any person, shall fire any unlawful shot, or any shot which in his judgment, from his inspection thereof is not a workmanlike, proper and practical shot
225 ILCS 705/20.22— No person or persons shall order, command or induce by threat or otherwise, any driller and shooter or shot firer to fire any unlawful shot, or any shot which in his judgment, after due inspection, is not a workmanlike, proper and practical shot
225 ILCS 705/20.23— No person shall drill or shoot a dead hole as hereinafter defined
225 ILCS 705/20.24— Only wooden tamping bars or metal bars tipped with 5 inches of copper shall be used when charging holes
225 ILCS 705/20.25— Leg wires of electric detonators shall be kept shunted or the ends twisted together until ready to connect to the firing cable
225 ILCS 705/20.26— Adobe (mudcap) or other open, unconfined shots shall not be fired in any mine
225 ILCS 705/20.27— Blasting cables shall be short-circuited at the battery end until ready to attach to the blasting unit
225 ILCS 705/20.28— No person shall return to a missed shot, if lighted with fuse, until 8 hours have elapsed from the time of lighting the same
225 ILCS 705/20.29— Misfired explosives shall be removed only through the use of copper-tipped or wooden tools
225 ILCS 705/20.30— The handling of a misfired shot shall be under the direct supervision of the mine manager or a competent person designated by him
225 ILCS 705/20.31— No worker shall have at any time in the mine more than 25 pounds of permissible explosives
225 ILCS 705/20.32— In solid shooting, the width of the shot at the point, in seams of coal 6 feet or less in height, shall not be greater than the height of the coal and in seams of coal more than 6 feet in thickness, the width of the shot at the point shall, in no case, be more than 6 feet
225 ILCS 705/20.33— In undercut coal, no hole shall be drilled "on the solid" for any part of its length
225 ILCS 705/20.34— In no case shall more than one kind of explosive be used in the same drill hole
225 ILCS 705/20.35— Every shot hole shall be tamped full from the explosive to the mouth of the hole, and no coal dust or any material that is inflammable or that may create a spark, whether the same is wet or dry, shall be used for tamping
225 ILCS 705/20.36— Before firing a shot, the person firing the same shall see that all persons are out of danger from the probable effect of such shot, and shall take measures to prevent any one approaching by shouting "fire" before lighting the same
225 ILCS 705/20.37
225 ILCS 705/20.38— Where fuse is used in firing shots, the length of the fuse shall not be less than 3 1/2 feet from the outside end of the charge, and no shot shall be fired unless there is at least one foot of fuse protruding from the mouth of the hole
225 ILCS 705/20.39— "CARDOX" shall not be fired "on shift", and while men are in the mine
225 ILCS 705/20.40— If samples of permissible explosives when tested as provided for in this Article shall be found not to comply with the provisions herein, the person, firm or corporation guilty of violating the provisions of this Act shall be prosecuted in accordance with the provision hereof
225 ILCS 705/20.41