Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Explosives
For the purpose of the Regulations, transfer means the moving of explosives from place to place except within/on the same site, e.g. a factory, mine, quarry, display area or a construction or demolition site. If you are only concerned with transfers of explosives from one place to another wholly within Great Britain this simplified guidance is all you will need:
The Regulations apply to transfers of ALL explosives - except:
When being transferred ALL explosives covered by the Regulations must be accompanied by a document known as a Recipient Competent Authority (RCA) document, issued by the Health and Safety Executive's Explosives Policy Section.
RCA documents are issued to the person/company that will be in physical possession of the explosives after the transfer has taken place (the consignee). The RCA document is the approval for all transfers of explosives that the consignee is legally entitled to acquire or keep. In most cases it will be valid for a maximum period of three years. If you have an Explosives Certificate issued by the police under the Control of Explosives Regulations 1991 the RCA document will expire on the same date as that Certificate.
When you wish to renew your RCA document, send, either by post or fax, a copy of a valid Explosives Certificate to HSE. If you or your company are involved in the transfer of explosives not requiring an Explosives Certificate to acquire and keep, your RCA document will have an unlimited expiry date and will not need renewing. The Regulations require you to keep the RCA document or a certified copy for a period of three years after completion of the transfer. In practice, this will mean three years after expiry of the RCA document.
As a supplier (consignor) of explosives you must ensure that the person or company (the consignee) you are consigning explosives to has an RCA document covering the explosives to be transferred. The consignee has to send you a valid RCA document or a certified true copy when ordering, or show you an RCA document if collecting themselves before the transfer can legally take place. If despatching a consignment of explosives with a carrier, you must give the carrier the consignee's RCA document, or certified copy, which must then accompany the explosives throughout their entire journey. Your regular consignees may decide to send you a batch of certified copies of their RCA document to avoid delays when ordering. You must then ensure that one document accompanies each consignment.
When carrying explosives covered by POMSTER you must ensure that you receive from the consignor an RCA document, or a certified true copy, approving the transfer of those explosives. This must accompany the explosives during their journey. If different modes of transport are used during the transfer the RCA document must be passed from one to the other with the explosives. If you are carrying to more than one consignee on the same vehicle each individual. consignment must be accompanied by the consignee's RCA document or a certified copy. At the completion of the journey the RCA document must be passed to the consignee with the delivered explosives.It is the carrier's duty to ensure that the consignee's RCA document always accompanies the explosives.
Before any explosives are transferred to you, you must obtain from the Competent Authority (HSE) an RCA document. You will then have to send or show the RCA document, or a certified copy, to your supplier (consignor) before the transfer can legally take place. If you receive explosives regularly, you may wish to consider sending a batch of certified copies of your RCA document to your supplier to avoid delays.
When moving your own explosives you become the consignor, the carrier and the consignee, and therefore have to comply with the Regulations concerning all these. If you move your own explosives from place to place, simply keep your RCA document with you. If you collect your own explosives from a supplier (consignor), you will have to show your RCA document, or a certified copy, to the consignor before you can take them. You must ensure that the RCA document accompanies the explosives at all times during the transfer.
If you only acquire explosives (e.g. blackpowder) at the site of re-enactment and do not move them off site, then you are not required to have an RCA document, as the Regulations will not affect you. However, you may have been sent an RCA document when these Regulations first came into force as we could not distinguish you from others. In all other cases, you will require an RCA document, and will have to comply with the other requirements.
If you load or reload sporting ammunition for your own use, you do not require an RCA document in respect of the components of that ammunition. These regulations will not affect you. However, buyers or sellers of bulk components will need an RCA document and have to comply with the other requirements.
Overseas visitors acquiring explosives on a display site or for the purpose of home-loading for sporting or other recreational purposes will not require an RCA document, but if they are involved with transfer of explosives for any other reason they will require an RCA document issued by HSE as explained above.
If you wish more detailed advice, or are involved with import/export of explosives outside Great Britain, please contact HSE’s Explosives Policy Team.