HSE Explosives Regulations 2014

Thanks for posting.
How many people actually store there powder in a proper wooden box ?
i never knew it was a requirement.:oops:
 
13 Similarly a box constructed from plywood must not be kept in any form of metal box, drawer or cupboard.
above is extract from the regs. If you can't keep it in a cupboard, where do you keep it?
 
I was under the impression that Nitro powder was a propellant rather than an explosive. Therefore does not come under explosive regulations.
 
Black powder, not Nitro

  1. 2 Shooters’ powder includes both black powder and smokeless powder.

  2. Taken from the guidance notes page 100.

Thanks for posting.
How many people actually store there powder in a proper wooden box ?
i never knew it was a requirement.:oops:


I think it means that black powder and smokeless black powder substitutes such as Pyrodex are classed as explosives and need to be stored appropriately in wooden boxes.

The guidance does not apply to nitrocellulose reloading powders, which as someone correctly pointed out, are classed as propellants rather than explosives, in that they burn fiercely rather than actually expand explosively when ignited.

* Please excuse the highly non-technical explanation of the physics and chemistry of explosions!
 
I think that nitrocellulose/smokeless powder is classified as an explosive.

Normally there is a little orange sticker on each container with the word 'Explosive' or a pictogram of an explosion and the category 1.3 C. This means that it's an explosive.

The classification system is changing as there's a new world-wide categorisation system coming into place, but it makes very little difference to propellants, they are just termed HT 3 instead of Class 1.3.


Therefore these new regulations apply and you need to store it in a wooden box.

Triffid
 
Nitro powders are indeed labelled as explosives, ..... but for the purposes of storage, they do not need to be enclosed within a wooden container of any kind, unlike as previously mentioned, Pyrodex, or Black powder,....... maybe when Mr Perring is back in the office tomorrow, he may join us with a full and accurate explanation.
 
What was originally posted was HSE's guidance on the new regulations; the Regulations themselves are here:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/en/uksi/2014/1638/made

They make interesting reading and are quite confusing, different regulations applying to 'shooters powder' (black powder and nitro) and 'smokeless powder' (just nitro). They don't specifically say that you've got to keep smokless powder in a box, merely that they are stored in a safe, suitable and secure place. . . look at Regulations 27 and 30. I think HSE's guidance is based on this.

Triffid
 
What was originally posted was HSE's guidance on the new regulations; the Regulations themselves are here:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/en/uksi/2014/1638/made

They make interesting reading and are quite confusing, different regulations applying to 'shooters powder' (black powder and nitro) and 'smokeless powder' (just nitro). They don't specifically say that you've got to keep smokless powder in a box, merely that they are stored in a safe, suitable and secure place. . . look at Regulations 27 and 30. I think HSE's guidance is based on this.

Triffid

Thanks for these posts, certainly very interesting and confusing, and I'm learning a lot.

As far as I can see you can store up to 30kg of "shooters powder" without having storage separation rules applying, but you will need an explosives licence to store more than 10kg of "shooters powders". It all gets complicated when percussion caps, small-arms ammunition and model rocket motors get added to the combinations. It looks to me that there's now no distinction between smokeless/nitro, black or shooters powders for storage.
 
Back
Top