On Tuesday, 23 July 2024, GN. R.5048 of 2024 was published in Government Gazette No. 50960, in terms of which the Minister of Employment and Labour has, under section 43 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 promulgated the Explosives Regulations, 2024 ("the Regulations").
The Regulations repeal the Explosives Regulations, 2002 and, in terms of regulation 2(2), applies to any employer, self-employed person or user who operates an explosives workplace for the purpose of manufacturing, testing, storing or using explosives.
The Regulations provide for, amongst others, the following:
- provision for the chief inspector of occupational health and safety to grant exemption from any of these regulations on such conditions as he or she may determine, upon written request;
- authorised and classified explosives;
- provisions for the licensing of explosives workplaces;
- non-detonatable and non-sensitised explosives in relation to ammonium nitrate fertilizers, mixtures of ammonium nitrate with calcium carbonate, or dolomite or calcium carbonate and dolomite, and ammonium nitrate emulsions, gels and suspensions intermediate for blasting explosives;
- danger areas and danger buildings;
- supervision of explosives workplace;
- new provisions relating to incidents; and
- competencies and standards of training.
The Regulations further introduce the Explosives Regulations, 2024: Radio Frequency Device Guidelines ("the Guidelines") (regulation 6(3)(c) of the Regulations). The Guidelines make provision for, amongst others, the condition that every explosives manager intending to introduce radio frequency devices inside the danger area shall notify the chief inspector within 90 working days of the promulgation of the Regulations.
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