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Explosives

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Toolbox Talk: Explosives Safety

Date: [DATE] Duration: [DURATION] minutes Presenter: [PRESENTER NAME] Location: [LOCATION]

Objective

The objective of this toolbox talk is to ensure all workers understand the hazards associated with explosives and the necessary safety procedures for handling, storing, and transporting them to prevent accidents and injuries [1].

Introduction

Working with explosives is inherently dangerous. Failure to follow safety procedures can result in serious injury or death. This toolbox talk will cover essential safety measures to minimize risks when working with explosives [1].

Presenter Note: Engage the audience by asking if anyone has personal experience related to the topic.

Key Points

  • Only authorized and qualified persons are permitted to handle and use explosives [1].
  • Smoking, open flames, and spark-producing devices are prohibited near explosives [1].
  • Explosives must be accounted for at all times and secured in locked magazines when not in use [1].
  • Transporting explosives requires specific precautions, including proper vehicle maintenance and placarding [2].
  • Damaged or deteriorated explosives must not be used and should be disposed of properly [3].

Hazard Identification

  • Unintended Detonation: Explosives can detonate unexpectedly due to mishandling, improper storage, or exposure to heat or sparks. Consequences include severe injuries, fatalities, and property damage [1].
  • Flyrock: Blasting can cause rocks and debris to be thrown great distances, posing a risk of injury to workers and the public. Consequences include impact injuries, eye injuries, and potential fatalities [4].
  • Exposure to Hazardous Materials: Some explosives contain chemicals that can be harmful if inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Consequences include respiratory problems, skin irritation, and long-term health issues [5].

Presenter Note: Encourage participants to share any additional hazards they've encountered.

Control Measures

  • Elimination: Where possible, eliminate the need for explosives by using alternative methods [1].
  • Substitution: Use less hazardous blasting agents when appropriate [5].
  • Engineering Controls: Use magazines for storage that meet safety standards [6]. Ensure vehicles used for transporting explosives are properly equipped and maintained [2].
  • Administrative Controls: Develop and enforce strict procedures for handling, storing, and transporting explosives. Provide comprehensive training to all workers involved in blasting operations [1].
  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Use appropriate PPE, including safety glasses, gloves, and hearing protection, when handling explosives [1].

Safe Work Procedures

  1. Ensure you are a qualified and authorized person before handling explosives [1].
  2. Inspect explosives and detonators for any signs of damage or deterioration before use [3].
  3. Keep explosives and detonators separated until the last practical moment before priming [7].
  4. Use non-sparking tools when handling explosives [7].
  5. Follow proper procedures for loading, tamping, and initiating blasts [1].

Presenter Note: If possible, demonstrate the safe work procedure or use visual aids.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Requirements

  • Safety Glasses: Must be worn at all times when handling explosives to protect against flying debris and chemical splashes [1].
  • Gloves: Use appropriate gloves to prevent skin contact with explosive materials [1].
  • Hearing Protection: Use earplugs or earmuffs in areas where blasting is occurring to prevent hearing damage [1].

[Emphasize the importance of proper PPE use and maintenance]

Real-World Example or Case Study

[Provide a detailed description of a relevant real-world scenario or case study]

[Discuss what went wrong or right, and the lessons learned]

Presenter Note: Ask participants if they can relate this example to their own experiences.

Group Discussion

Discuss the following questions:

  1. What are the potential consequences of mishandling explosives?
  2. What are some ways we can improve our current blasting safety procedures?
  3. What should you do if you find damaged or deteriorated explosives?

Presenter Note: Encourage active participation and facilitate the discussion.

Emergency Procedures

  1. In case of an unintended detonation, immediately evacuate the area and seek cover [1].
  2. If someone is injured, provide first aid and call for medical assistance [1].
  3. Report any incidents, near misses, or unsafe conditions to your supervisor immediately [1].
  4. Follow established emergency response plans [1].

Questions and Answers

[Encourage participants to ask questions]

[Provide answers to common questions related to the topic]

  • Q: What do I do if I find explosives unattended?

A: Immediately secure the area and report it to your supervisor [1].

  • Q: Can I use my cell phone near explosives?

A: No, electronic devices are prohibited near explosives due to the risk of unintended detonation [1].

  • Q: How often should explosives be inspected?

A: Explosives should be inspected at reasonably practicable intervals to verify that the explosives and detonators are not deteriorated, damaged or otherwise unsafe [3].

Summary

  • Explosives are dangerous and must be handled with care [1].
  • Only qualified personnel are allowed to handle explosives [1].
  • Always follow established safety procedures and wear appropriate PPE [1].
  • Report any hazards or unsafe conditions immediately [1].

Action Items

  1. Review the site-specific blasting plan [1].
  2. Inspect all PPE for proper condition [1].
  3. Report any concerns or questions to your supervisor [1].

Remember: Safety is everyone's responsibility. Handle explosives with care and respect.

Report all hazards, near-misses, and incidents to your supervisor immediately.

Safety powered by SALUS

7 source record(s)

Sources used for this answer

[1] Safety and Health Regulations for Construction (OSHA)

Page 134

Open source document

Source excerpt

## Subpart U-Blasting and the Use of Explosives AUTHORITY: Sec. 107, Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (40 U.S.C. 333); secs. 4, 6, 8, Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655, 657); Secretary of Labor's Order No. 12-71 (36 FR 8754), 8-76 (41 FR [redacted postal code]), 9-83 (48 FR [redacted postal code]), or 6-96 (62 FR 111), as applicable; and 29 CFR part 1911. ## §1926.902 Surface transportation of explosives. - (a) Transportation of explosives shall meet the provisions of Department of Transportation regulations contained in 46 CFR parts 146-149, Water Carriers; 49 CFR parts 171-179, Highways and Railways; 49 CFR part 195, Pipelines; and 49 CFR parts 390-397, Motor Carriers. - (b) Motor vehicles or conveyances transporting explosives shall only be driven by, and be in the charge of, a licensed driver who is physically fit. He shall be familiar with the local, State, and Federal regulation governing the transportation of explosives. - (c) No person shall smoke, or carry matches or any other flame-producing device, nor shall firearms or loaded cartridges be carried while in or near a motor vehicle or conveyance transporting explosives. - (d) Explosives, blasting agents, and blasting supplies shall not be transported with other materials or cargoes. Blasting caps (including electric) shall not be transported in the same vehicle with other explosives. - (e) Vehicles used for transporting explosives shall be strong enough to carry the load without difficulty, and shall be in good mechanical condition. - (f) When explosives are transported by a vehicle with an open body, a Class II magazine or original manufacturer's container shall be securely mounted on the bed to contain the cargo. - (g) All vehicles used for the transportation of explosives shall have tight floors and any exposed spark-producing metal on the inside of the body shall be covered with wood, or other nonsparking material, to prevent contact with containers of expl


[2] Rules for the Administration of the Oregon Safe Employment Act (Construction, Division 3, OSHA Oregon)

Page 948

Open source document

Source excerpt

## SUBDIVISION U ## BLASTING AND THE USE OF EXPLOSIVES Authority: Sec. 107, Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (Construction Safety Act) (40 U.S.C. 333); secs. 4, 6, 8, Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655, 657); Secretary of Labor's Order No. 12-71 (36 FR 8754), 8-76 (41 FR [redacted postal code]), or 9-83 (48 FR [redacted postal code]), as applicable. ## §1926.900 General Provisions. - (a) The employer shall permit only authorized and qualified persons to handle and use explosives. - (b) Smoking, firearms, matches, open flame lamps, and other fires, flame or heat producing devices and sparks shall be prohibited in or near explosive magazines or while explosives are being handled, transported or used. - (c) No person shall be allowed to handle or use explosives while under the influence of intoxicating liquors, narcotics, or other dangerous drugs. - (d) All explosives shall be accounted for at all times. Explosives not being used shall be kept in a locked magazine, unavailable to persons not authorized to handle them. The employer shall maintain an inventory and use record of all explosives. Appropriate authorities shall be notified of any loss, theft, or unauthorized entry into a magazine. - (e) No explosives or blasting agents shall be abandoned. - (f) No fire shall be fought where the fire is in imminent danger of contact with explosives. All employees shall be removed to a safe area and the fire area guarded against intruders. - (g) Original containers, or Class II magazines, shall be used for taking detonators and other explosives from storage magazines to the blasting area. - (h) When blasting is done in congested areas or in proximity to a structure, railway, or highway, or any other installation that may be damaged, the blaster shall take special precautions in the loading, delaying, initiation, and confinement of each blast with mats or other methods so as to control the throw of fragments, and thus preven


[3] Occupational Health and Safety Code

Page 242

Open source document

Source excerpt

- 473.1 (3) Repealed AR 202/2024 s31. 473.1 (4) An employer must ensure that a vehicle used to transport explosives is equipped with 2 easily accessible fire extinguishers with a rating of at least 4-A:40-B:C. 473.1 (5) Subsection (1)(a) does not apply to a perforating gun if other measures are in place to prevent unintended detonation. AR 242/2022 s40;202/2024 ## Vehicle breakdown 473.2 (1) An employer must ensure that, if a vehicle transporting explosives breaks down, the explosives are transferred to another vehicle or removed from the vehicle unless, in the opinion of the worker operating the vehicle, - (a) the repairs are minor, - (b) the repairs can be made without creating a hazard, and - (c) the repairs will be performed in a reasonable time. 473.2 (2) An employer must ensure that, if explosives are removed from a vehicle in accordance with subsection (1), the explosives are - (a) placed under proper security, - (b) located at a safe distance from the highway, and - (c) located at least 300 metres from an inhabited building or a work area. AR 242/2022 s40;202/2024 ## Oldest explosives used first 474 An employer and a blaster must ensure that the explosives with the earliest manufacturing date are removed from a magazine first and used first. AR 191/2021 s474;242/2022 ## Deteriorated, damaged or unsafe explosives 475 (1) An employer and a blaster must ensure that explosives and detonators stored in a magazine are - (a) inspected at reasonably practicable intervals to verify that the explosives and detonators are not deteriorated, damaged or otherwise unsafe, - (b) removed from the magazine if deteriorated, damaged or otherwise unsafe, and - (c) not used in any blasting activities if deteriorated, damaged or otherwise unsafe. 475 (2) If explosives and detonators are deteriorated, damaged or otherwise unsafe, an employer and a blaster must ensure that the explosives and detonators are - (a) destroyed, removed for destruction or otherwise made s


[4] General Regulation (N.B. Reg. 91-191)

Page 156

Open source document

Source excerpt

- (b) are locked in separate day boxes that are manu -factured to be sufficient to protect a person from in -jury or are certified by an engineer as being sufficient to protect a person from injury. 153 (2) Where blasting explosives or detonator prod -ucts are to be stored overnight, an employer shall ensure that they are stored in accordance with the requirements of the Explosives Act (Canada). 2024-38 ## Precautions respecting ignition and sparks 154 An employer shall ensure that - (a) no article or thing liable to ignite spontaneously or likely to cause an explosion or fire is taken into or stored within 8 m of a magazine used to keep or store explosives, and - (b) tools and implements used to open containers of explosives are made only of non-sparking materials. 2024-38 ## Inspection of blasting machine 155 An employer and a blaster shall each ensure that a blasting machine is inspected at least annually by a com -petent person and that the blasting machine is main -tained in good working condition. 2024-38 ## Log book re blasting machine 2024-38 155.1 An employer shall ensure that a log book re -cording inspections and repairs to a blasting machine is maintained and made available to an officer on request. 2024-38 ## Handling ## Handling of explosives and related matters 156 A blaster shall ensure that - (a) blasting explosives and detonator products are kept and handled separately until the last practicable moment when the blaster primes the explosive; - b) enfermés à clé dans des contenants de jour dis -tincts qui sont fabriqués pour éviter les blessures, ou certifiés par un ingénieur comme étant suffisants pour ce faire. 153 (2) Lorsque des explosifs de dynamitage ou des détonateurs sont entreposés pendant la nuit, l'employeur doit s'assurer qu'ils sont entreposés conformément aux prescriptions de la Loi sur les explosifs (Canada). 2024-38 ## Précautions à prendre pour éviter un incendie ## 154 


[5] Occupational Health and Safety Code

Page 240

Open source document

Source excerpt

## Storage and Handling of Explosives 470 Repealed AR 202/2024 s25. ## Magazines 470.1 (1) An employer must ensure that a magazine meets the requirements of National Standard of Canada CAN/BNQ 2910-500/2015 (R 2022), Explosives - Magazines for Industrial Explosives . 470.1 (2) An employer must ensure that the electrical equipment, systems, lighting and any other thing used in a magazine do not create a fire or explosion hazard. AR 242/2022 s38;202/2024 ## Storage and disposal of explosives, safety fuse assemblies and detonators 470.2 (1) An employer and a blaster must ensure that all explosives, safety fuse assemblies and detonators that are not used in a blasting activity - (a) are stored in accordance with this Code, or - (b) are destroyed or disposed of - (i) in accordance with manufacturer's specifications, or - (ii) safely by a blaster if there are no manufacturer's specifications and despite section 12(e). 470.2 (2) An employer and a blaster must ensure that all explosives, safety fuse assemblies and detonators at a work site are stored in a magazine. 470.2 (3) Subsection (2) does not apply to a perforating gun at a work site where blasting activities are being performed if other measures are in place to prevent unintended detonation. AR 242/2022 s38;202/2024 ## Access to explosives 470.3 An employer and a blaster must ensure that no worker, except a blaster or a worker under the direct supervision of a blaster, has access to - (a) a blasting machine, or - (b) - a day box, magazine or any other place where explosives or detonators are located. AR 242/2022 s38;202/2024 ## Removal from magazine 470.4 (1) An employer and a blaster must ensure that explosives removed from a magazine are secured in a day box or used as soon as reasonably practicable. 470.4 (2) An employer and a blaster must ensure that any unused explosives, safety fuse assemblies and detonators are returned to a magazine between periods of work. 470.4 (3) An employer and a blaste


[6] General Regulation (N.B. Reg. 91-191)

Page 157

Open source document

Source excerpt

- (b) no explosive is primed in any place where ex -plosives are stored; - (c) primed explosives are not slit or tamped; - (d) the wrapping is not removed from nitroglycerine-based products; - (g) time expired, deteriorated or damaged explo -sives are not used; - (h) Repealed: 2024-38 - (i) where there is any danger to property or persons from flyrock from a blast, blasting mats of adequate size and strength are used; - (j) frozen explosives are used in accordance with the manufacturer's recommended procedure; - (k) drill holes are of sufficient size to admit the free insertion to the bottom of the hole of the explosive to be used without ramming, pounding or undue pres -sure; - (l) only tamping rods of wood or other non-metallic, non-sparking material are used; - (m) drill holes are not tied in until the last practica -ble moment before firing and are fired in a single op -eration; - (n) no drilling is done in a previously blasted area until the surface to be drilled is exposed and carefully examined for remnants of explosives or holes contain -ing explosives; and - (o) where remnants of explosives or holes contain -ing explosives are found, the explosives are detonated or removed before drilling commences. (e) Repealed: 2024-38 (f) Repealed: 2024-38 93-8; 2024-38 - b) qu'aucun explosif n'est amorcĂ© dans un lieu oĂč sont emmagasinĂ©s des explosifs, - c) que les explosifs amorcĂ©s ne sont pas fendus ou bourrĂ©s, - d) que l'emballage des produits Ă  base de nitrogly -cĂ©rine n'est pas enlevĂ©, - g) que les explosifs expirĂ©s, dĂ©tĂ©riorĂ©s ou endom -magĂ©s ne sont pas utilisĂ©s, - h) AbrogĂ© : 2024-38 - i) que, lorsqu'une explosion expose les personnes et les biens au danger de pierres projetĂ©es, des Ă©crans de sautage de taille et de rĂ©sistance appropriĂ©e sont utili -sĂ©s, - j) que les explosifs gelĂ©s sont utilisĂ©s conformĂ©ment aux directives du fabricant, - k) que des trous de mines sont d'une taille suffi -sante pour perm


[7] Rules for the Administration of the Oregon Safe Employment Act (General Occupational Safety and Health, Division 2, OSHA Oregon)

Page 466

Open source document

Source excerpt

Division 2 AO 3-2019 Oregon Administrative Rules Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division - (16) Special industrial explosives devices. Special industrial explosives devices - explosive-actuated power devices and propellant-actuated power devices. - (17) Special industrial explosives materials. Special industrial explosives materials - shaped materials and sheet forms and various other extrusions, pellets, and packages of high explosives, which include dynamite, trinitrotoluene (TNT), pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), hexa-hydro-1,3,5trinitro-s-triazine (RDX), and other similar compounds used for high-energyrate forming, expanding, and shaping in metal fabrication, and for dismemberment and quick reduction of scrap metal. - (18) Water gels or slurry explosives. These comprise a wide variety of materials used for blasting. They all contain substantial proportions of water and high proportions of ammonium nitrate, some of which is in solution in the water. Two broad classes of water gels are (i) those which are sensitized by a material classed as an explosive, such as TNT or smokeless powder, (ii) those which contain no ingredient classified as an explosive; these are sensitized with metals such as aluminum or with other fuels. Water gels may be premixed at an explosives plant or mixed at the site immediately before delivery into the borehole. - (19) DOT specifications. Regulations of the Department of Transportation published in 49 CFR Chapter I. - (b) Miscellaneous provisions. - (1) General hazard. No person shall store, handle, or transport explosives or blasting agents when such storage, handling, and transportation of explosives or blasting agents constitutes an undue hazard to life. - (2) (Reserved) - (c) Storage of explosives. - (1) General provisions. - (i) All Class A, Class B, Class C explosives, and special industrial explosives, and any newly developed and unclassified explosives, shall be kept in magazines which meet the requirements of this 


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