Record keeping

Civil explosives

 From the 5th April 2015, Manufacturers, importers, distributors, and anyone who acquires or keeps civil explosives will have to keep a record of the explosives throughout the supply chain and life cycle,

Records are not required to be kept for civil explosives that are:

• acquired or kept by private individuals other than in connection with their work and that are solely for their own personal use
• explosives transported and delivered without packaging or in a mobile explosives manufacturing unit for its direct unloading into the blast-hole
• fuses, which are cord-like non-detonating igniting devices
• safety fuses, which consist of a core of fine grained black powder surrounded by a flexible woven fabric with one or more protective outer coverings and which, when ignited, burn at a predetermined rate without any external explosive effect
• cap-type primers, which consist of a metal or plastic cap containing a small amount of primary explosive mixture that is readily ignited by impact and which serve as igniting elements in small arms cartridges or in percussion primers for propelling charges

The records should allow tracking and identification of an explosive at any time, and should be kept for 10 years after the date when the explosive was used, transferred to another person or destroyed, even if the manufacturers, importers, distributors, and anyone who acquires or keeps the explosives, have ceased trading.

If they do cease trading, they must notify the enforcing authority and provide any records to them to keep for the remainder of the 10 years.

Up to date records must include:

• type of explosive
• unique identification
• location of explosive whilst in the possession of the manufacturer, importer, distributor or other person acquiring or keeping the explosive.
• if and when the explosive has been subject to further manufacturing, used, transferred or destroyed whilst in the possession of the manufacturer, importer, distributor or other person acquiring or keeping the explosive
• name and address of person the explosive is transferred to

The system applied for collecting the  records must be quality controlled and tested at regular intervals for its effectiveness, and the quality of the information recorded. The record must be protected against accidental or malicious damage or destruction
The information as to the origin and location of each civil explosives to which the record relates, must also be made available to the enforcing authority when requested.

Relevant explosives

Most people who acquire possession of or keep relevant explosives are subject to the record-keeping requirements of the Regulations. Records are not required to be kept for relevant explosives that are:

• acquired or kept by private individuals other than in connection with their work and that are solely for their own personal use.
• manufactured in situ and used immediately ie not kept. Examples of such relevant explosives could include:
  • ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO)
  • relevant explosives produced during shot firing operations from ammonium nitrate blasting intermediate (ANBI)
  • relevant explosives manufactured from restricted substances

Agents and records

An agent who acts to acquire relevant explosives for another person but who never has physical possession of the relevant explosives is not required to keep a record of those relevant explosives. This is because records will be kept by the person in physical possession of the relevant explosives.

Private individuals acquiring relevant explosives for their own use

Private individuals who acquire and keep explosives other than in connection with their work and solely for their own personal use are not required to keep a record of the relevant explosives. They should however have systems in place to retain sufficient information to be able to report losses under regulation 37.

Record keeping and explosives that are NOT relevant explosives

A person acquiring or keeping:

• small arms ammunition
• fireworks and most other pyrotechnic articles
• explosives listed in schedule 2 to the regulations

Will not have to keep records meeting the requirement of regulation 35 because those explosives are not relevant explosives. Records should however be kept to ensure compliance with any licence or permission or in order to provide information to the emergency services.

Information to be recorded

A record should provide an accurate indication of the relevant explosives acquired or kept at any time and enable rapid detection and identification of any loss.

The record must to be kept up to date and should identify;

• The type of relevant explosive
• its manufacturer
• the date of acquisition;
• a description of the relevant explosive and its name, product code or other information which enables the relevant explosive to be distinguished from every other explosive [which is not identical]
• the total number of any explosive articles, the total nominal mass of explosive substance not contained in explosive articles or, in the case of such substances in cartridge form, the total number of cartridges
• the location of the relevant explosive while it is in the possession of the dutyholder. Where a site has more than one storage location or place of keeping records should either identify the place where a relevant explosive is being kept or a separate record should be maintained for each keeping-place
• the name and address of any person to whom the relevant explosive is transferred; and
• whether, while in the possession of the dutyholder, the relevant explosive has been:
  • subjected to a further manufacturing process after its acquisition
  • used
  • transferred to another person
  • destroyed
  • lost

and the date of any such further manufacturing process, use, transfer or destruction. The records must be kept for 3 years from when the relevant was used, transferred to another person or destroyed.

After the 5th of April 2015 this regulation will cease to apply to those relevant explosives that are also civil explosives subject to regulation 36.

Further information on record keeping can be found in L151 overarching guidance – security provisions.