(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]