5607.10.3 Safety precautions.
FC § 5607.10.3
Detonators shall be stored, handled and used in accordance with the following safety precautions: 1. Detonators used in a single blast shall be of the same manufacture, style and function to ensure compatibility.
2.Signs reading "DANGER – BLASTING AREA – NO RADIO TRANSMITTING" shall be conspicuously posted on the street side of the job site or on the drill boat.
3.Prior to loading explosives, the blast site shall be tested for any stray currents. Such currents shall be eliminated before loading explosives.
4.Care shall be taken in the selection of the blasting circuit and an adequate energy source for initiation, and in making electrical connections. Circuits shall be tested to ensure the current is 50 mA or less, and only with a blaster's galvanometer or blaster's multimeter.
5.Detonators shall be shunted or short circuited until wired into the blasting circuit. The lead line shall also be shunted, unless testing the blasting circuit or preparing to fire.
6.Precautions shall be taken to prevent accidental discharge of electric detonators from currents induced by radar and radio station transmitters, adjacent power lines, substations, third rails, dust, lightening and snowstorms, or other stray electrical currents.
7.No radio transmission with any handie-talkies, CB radios, cell phones or other devices shall be allowed within 100 feet (30 480 mm) of electric detonators.
8.For tunnel blasting, only an approved type of loading light shall be used. All regular light and power circuits shall be disconnected and removed to a location at least 100 feet (30 480 mm) from where explosives are being loaded. The only circuit allowed within 100 feet (30 480 mm) of the blast site shall be the one being used to fire the charges.
9.Detonators and explosives shall not be transported together on the job site, except in magazine cars and carry boxes in which the detonators and explosives are kept in separate approved containers or compartments.
10.During compressed air operations, all metal pipes, rails, air-locks and steel tunnel-lining shall be electrically bonded and grounded at or near the portal or shaft, and shall be cross-bonded at 1,000 feet (304 800 mm) intervals throughout the length of the tunnel. In addition, each low air supply pipe shall be grounded at its delivery point.
