§ 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 prevent bodily injury to employees.