Section 225.50  Preparation

a)         At no time shall more than hundred (100) pounds of permissible explosives be removed from a section magazine.

b)         A shot firer may have only up to twenty-five (25) pounds of permissible explosives and electric detonators in the shot firer's possession at any one time.

c)         Only nonsparking tools shall be used for opening permissible explosives containers.

d)         When entering the face area to be blasted, the shot firer must:

1)         visually examine the roof and ribs pursuant to Sections 13.04, 30.04, 30.05 of the Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985 ch. 96½, pars. 1304, 3004, 3005);

2)         check for methane pursuant to Sections 31.04 of the Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985 ch. 96½, par. 3104);

3)         clean the boreholes; and

4)         inspect the boreholes to see that they are:

A)        of correct depth in relation to the cut and

B)        properly placed.

e)         Boreholes must not be loaded while any other work is being performed in that room or entry.

f)         the shot firer must completely load each borehole before continuing on to the next borehole.

g)         The shot firer must make up primers only when loading the borehole using electric detonators of proper strength and time interval delay to ensure the proper breaking down of coal.

h)         When loading boreholes, the shot firer must place the primer in the borehole first pointing outward and the rest of the permissible explosives must be pushed into the hole in a continuous train without any compressible substance between

1)         the back of the hole and the permissible explosives, or

2)         between the permissible explosives and the stemming.

j)          The shot firer may only use a nonsparking tool for priming cartridges.

j)          The shot firer may only use a nonsparking tamping bar for loading boreholes.

k)         The shot firer may only stem boreholes with water filled plastic bags, rockdust, clay, or sand.  Stemming with coal dust is prohibited.

l)          The shot firer must keep the blasting cable shunted until all boreholes are:

1)         loaded

2)         tied together and

3)         connected to the blasting cable.