PART XXXI EXPLOSIVES IN MINES — Electric blasting

be used for electrical blasting; not less than No. 12 AWG; the protective shunt shall not be removed from the leg wire until connections are made; be distinguished from other cables and wires; the continued shorting of the blasting cables;

have adequate capacity for the number of caps involved; and without splices as far as practicable; and the leg wire shall not be shortened to less than one metre; be used for blasting purposes only; and a three-way switch for each individual blasting circuit which can be locked in either the shorted or closed position to provide for

not be used for another purpose. readily identifiable as being for blasting use, red in colour. the firing cables leading to the face or faces shall be short circuited while the leads from the blasting caps are being connected to each other and to the firing cables; not come into contact with identification of blasting cables and switches; and

Acceptable blasting-circuit conductors shall be

Where expendable connecting wires are used from the lead wires to the leg wires of the blasting caps, they shall not be less than No. 20 AWG.

Where the power-distribution system is not used for blasting, an employer shall establish alternative written safe work procedures.

An employer shall have written safe work procedures to prevent inadvertent detonation of electrical blasting caps in the presence of radio transmitters or other radio-frequency fields including cellular phones, global positioning system devices and portable hand-held radios.

Where electric blasting caps are used

the short-circuit prescribed in paragraph (c) shall not be removed until all workers have left the workplaces to be affected by the blasting operation; and a written blasting procedure setting forth

the short-circuit prescribed in paragraph (c) shall be located so that a premature explosion will be harmless to the worker opening the short-circuit.

Blasting cables and blasting wires shall

detonating cords, (ii) power, lighting or communication cables, or (iii) pipes, rails or other continuous metal grounded circuits. shorting of the circuit, (ii) energizing the circuit, or (iii) testing of the circuit; the method of connecting the blasting wires to the electrical supply, (ii) the evacuation of all workers from the area of the blast, and (iii) the method of testing the system to ensure that the proper connections have been made.

When a common electrical source is used to fire blasts in more than one workplace, provision shall be made for