§ 33.15. Use.

 (a)  Open flame or fire. Any person in or about a pit or quarry, before he opens a magazine or keg of black powder, or box of dynamite, or other explosives, or before he approaches it after opening, shall first place any lamp with open flame, or any lighted pipe, cigar or cigarette, or any other thing containing open fire not less than 10 feet from the magazine box, or keg, and in a position that the air current does not convey sparks to it.

 (b)  Opening containers of explosives. The use of an axe, bar, hammer, pick or other iron or steel implement to punch holes in or open containers of dynamite, black powder, blasting caps, electric blasting caps or detonators, electric squibs, or other explosives is prohibited. A wooden, rubber, rawhide, fibre, zinc or babbitt mallet and a wooden wedge shall be used in opening containers of dynamite.

 (c)  Experience requiremnt for blasters. No person may blast limestone, sandstone, clay, slate ore or other material in a pit or quarry unless he has given satisfactory proof to the pit, quarry or blaster foreman that he has had practical experience and is in every way qualified to perform the duty of shot firer or blaster. The foreman shall secure this proof from each person required or permitted to fire shots. No inexperienced person shall charge or fire a blast in the absence of an experienced person unless he has given satisfactory evidence of his ability to do so with safety and has obtained permission from the pit, quarry or blaster foreman. The foreman shall be responsible for insuring that the proof has been given and permission granted.

 (d)  Tamping sticks. In charging holes for blasting, wood tamping sticks shall be used whenever practicable. Except in the case of block holes or pop shots, wood tamping sticks only shall be used with dynamite. Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to prohibit the use of loaded wood tamping sticks tipped with copper or other soft metal. No iron or steel tamping bar shall be used for tamping block holes, pop shots or black powder unless the end of the tamping bar is tipped with at least 6 inches of copper or other soft metal.

 (e)  Preparation of holes. Horizontal holes shall be charged only in cartridge form unless powder is used and loaded by a method approved by the Department. The powder shall be of a character to withstand a satisfactory friction, impact and free burning test conducted by the Department. If black powder and dynamite are used in the same hole, separate primers shall be used unless the dynamite is used to detonate the black powder or cordeau is used. All holes shall be adequately tamped to a depth not less than eight inches, unless the hole itself is less than eight inches in depth in which case the hole shall be tamped in its full depth. Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to prohibit the slitting of dynamite cartridges nor the dividing of them into two or more pieces.

 (f)  Well holes. When well holes are being charged, no person may work at or near the face of a point where he shall be in immediate danger from a premature explosion.

 (g)  Firing of charges. When dynamite is used in primary shooting, it is recommended that it be fired by means of cordeau or electric current from a battery or switchboard. Nothing less than No. 6 blasting caps or electric blasting caps or detonators shall be used to explode dynamite at any time. The use of fuse and caps to explode powder charges shall be accepted. The use of patent squibs or patent matches is prohibited, except squibs of the Daddow or Powell type. Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to prohibit the use of fuse and blasting caps in primary shooting, mud capping, block holing or pop shooting. Each blaster or shooter using an electric battery or switchboard, before connecting the charge to the leading wires, shall first insure that the wires have been disconnected from the switchboard or battery. The practice of connecting a charge with the leading wires before placing the charge is prohibited. When fuse is used, its length shall be in accordance with specifications found in subsection (j). All blasting caps shall be crimped to the fuse with a crimper. The crimping of blasting caps by the use of a knife or the teeth is prohibited. No fuse shall be capped in or within 10 feet of any magazine.

 (h)  Loose powder or dynamite. Prior to the firing of a charge the person supervising the blast shall insure that all loose black powder or dynamite around the hole has been cleared away in order to prevent a premature explosion.

 (i)  Warning of blast. Prior to the firing of a blast, the person supervising such blast shall notify all persons who may be in danger from such blast by giving sufficient alarm before igniting the charge. The warning of the public on a public highway shall be accomplished by a person waving a red flag. The owners or operators of all pits or quarries shall notify by signal or telephone all quarries or cement plants within a surrounding area of four miles of the intention to fire primary shots.

 (j)  Fuse lengths. In no case shall the length of any 40-second fuse be less than 18 inches or any 30-second fuse be less than 24 inches. When fuse is used, the length of fuse and the number of holes that any one person shall be permitted or required to light at any one time shall be in accordance with the following table prepared from data submitted by the manufacturers of fuse:

 Column (1) indicates the various numbers of holes up to 25 which may be lighted at one time by one person if the length of fuse used for each hole agrees with the number of inches shown in column (2) if 40-second fuse is used or in column (4) if 30-second fuse is used. For convenience columns (3) and (5) are included to show the burning time of 40-second and 30-second fuses respectively in steps of six inches each. Thus, for example, if 13 holes are to be lighted at one time, the first hole to be lighted shall have 42 inches of 40-second fuse or 60 inches of 30-second fuse:

 (k)  Misfired holes. A hole which has missed fire shall not have the charge withdrawn. Every work place in which a hole has missed fire shall remain idle for one hour before reentry is made if approved fuse was used. Otherwise the waiting period shall be not less than six hours. In the event that a powder squib or electric current from a battery or switchboard was used to explode a hole which missed fire, the waiting period shall be not less than 15 minutes if the wires have been disconnected from the battery or switchboard. The handling of misfired holes shall be in accordance with the following specifications, under the personal supervision of the pit, quarry or blaster foreman. If the misfired hole has 18 inches or less of tamping, nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the recharging of the missed hole on top of the old tamping. If the unfilled portion of the missed hole is insufficient to accommodate the new charge and tamping, or if the missed hole has been tamped the full depth, a new hole shall be drilled or compressed air may be used to clean out the tamping in the old hole. The second hole shall be not less than 2 feet away from the missed hole. When a well hole or tunnel shot has missed fire the owner, operator, superintendent or blaster in charge shall immediately notify the Department by telephone or telegraph and no attempt shall be made to remove the charge or refire the hole or shot until permission has been given by the Department.

 (l)  Counting number of explosions. The total number of explosions in every blast, except in case of simultaneous firing, shall be counted by the blaster, or by the pit, quarry or blaster foreman. If the total number of explosions is less than the number of charges that were to be fired, a report shall be made to the pit, quarry or blaster foreman. When it is not certain that all charges have been exploded, no person shall enter the place where such charges were fired within the time limits and under the conditions enumerated in subsection (j).

   This section cited in 34 Pa. Code §  33.65 (relating to use); and 34 Pa. Code §  33.193 (relating to use).