(a) Shots shall be fired by a qualified person or a person working in the presence of and under the direction of a qualified person.

(b) Only one face in a working place shall be blasted at a time, except that when blasting cut coal up to three faces may be blasted in a round if each face has a separate kerf and no more than a total of 20 shots connected in a single series are fired in the round. A permit to fire more than 20 boreholes in a round under the provisions of 30 CFR 75.1320 and 75.1321 may not be obtained for use when blasting multiple faces.

(c) Before blasting—

(1) All persons shall leave the blasting area and each immediately adjacent working place where a hazard would be created by the blast, to an area that is around at least one corner from the blasting area;

(2) The qualified person shall ascertain that all persons are a safe distance from the blasting area; and

(3) A warning shall be given and adequate time allowed for persons to respond.

(d) All shots shall be fired promptly, after all persons have been removed to a safe location.

[35 FR 17890, Nov. 20, 1970, as amended at 56 FR 51616, Oct. 11, 1991]