New Mines (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022
Date published:
The Department for the Economy has, on 20 January 2022, made a Statutory Rule entitled “The Mines (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022” (S.R. 2022 No. 9). The Regulations will come into operation on 21 March 2022.
These Regulations amend the Mines Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 (S.R. 2016 No. 427) (legislation.gov.uk) to remove the disapplication of the Workplace Exposure Limit for respirable crystalline silica below ground in coal mines, by:
- Substitute a new definition of “action level” in order to remove the reference to respirable crystalline silica.
- Omit regulation 44 so that the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (S.R. 2003 No. 34) apply to respirable crystalline silica dust below ground in coal mines.
- Amend regulation 45 to remove all references to respirable crystalline silica.
The Regulations make provision, in relation to coal mine workers, to implement, as respects Northern Ireland, Directive (EU) 2017/2398 (eur-lex.europa.eu) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 amending Directive 2004/37/EC (eur-lex.europa.eu) on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens and mutagens at work.
The Regulations make provision, in relation to coal mine workers, to implement, as respects Northern Ireland, Directive (EU) 2017/2398 (eur-lex.europa.eu) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 amending Directive 2004/37/EC (eur-lex.europa.eu) on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens and mutagens at work