Quarries Regulations and Guidance

Legislation

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Quarries) Regulations, 2008 apply to all quarries operating in the Republic of Ireland.  The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005 and a number of Regulations made under this Act apply to quarries as well. The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Quarries) Regulations, 2008 are specific to quarry operations and require the management and control of operations at the quarry including management of the extraction faces, tips, stockpiles and lagoons, blasting activities, traffic management and health hazards.

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Quarries) Regulations, 2008 were amended by the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Quarries) (Amendment) Regulations, 2013 which made changes to the requirements for visibility aids on vehicles.

Currently the Authority is progressing revised quarries regulations to consolidate the two regulations and the amendments will:

1.       Improve safeguards in relation to the use of explosives by requiring that:

A.      the Quarry Operator ensures the competence of drilling operators;

B.      ensure that trainee shotfirers only fire shots whilst under competent supervision;

C.      ensure changes to the blast specification are agreed between the shotfirer and the explosives supervisor prior to blasting.

2.       Enable Quarry Operators to take appropriate measures and then notify the Authority of the temporary cessation of quarry operations at a quarry. This will remove the requirements on the Operator to comply with the Quarry Regulations until they are in a position to recommence operations. This may reduce the financial and legal burden on Operators that have quarries that are currently not economically viable to operate or maintain.

3.       Provide greater clarity to the definition of “quarry” and of ”quarry operations”,

4.       allow for the deletion of Part 7 and Schedule 4 of the 2008 Regulations as amended in 2013 as these now fall within the requirements of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) (Amendment) Regulations 2012.

5.       Ensure Schedule 1 of the Regulations reflects the dissolving of FAS and the establishment of SOLAS and takes account of changes in the 2013 Construction Regulations

6.       Improve the efficiency of the compliance process as stakeholders will operate on the basis of a simplified legislative framework.

It is not known at this stage when the Regulations will come into effect as a number of factors are outside of the control of the Authority