Regarding a Deputy being unfairly liable for matters influenced by the owners,if that were the case,then the Deputy did`nt do his job.
In the present climate the Deputy can influence the owners,
As any unsafe working environment,the Deputy has the right to pull all men out,and any dispute of this with the owners,then the Deputy only has to walk,and the Colliery is shut down till a replacement can be found,not easy in today`s climate.

Many opportunities have been missed. I investigated doing my Mine Surveyors' ticket in 2004, while working for Scott Wilson on a major mine development in Iran to UK standards; the actual exam seemed no problem, but the brusque dismissal from the Board scotched that idea. I've met a fair few South African surveyors who have completed the SACM training, who were told the same.

The "ticket" was a secondary issue at the time, the point I was making was that NOTHING, but nothing was regarded as equivalent to a British coal mine; neither a mine run by British-trained expats to British standards, nor the SACM scheme (and the Saffers have a serious reputation of their own).

The "ticket" was a secondary issue at the time, the point I was making was that NOTHING, but nothing was regarded as equivalent to a British coal mine; neither a mine run by British-trained expats to British standards, nor the SACM scheme (and the Saffers have a serious reputation of their own).

I see what you mean. Was your problem that you needed practical experience in a British coal mine to get the MQB qualification? - at a time when gaining that experience was effectively impossible.

Some parts of these new regs seem quite sensible and forward thinking. Some bits were drawn up by the graduate on internship.....
The intro talks about the changes being because the NCB has gone and responsibility must shift to owners.
This rather emphasises Derrickhands point about dinosaurs. The person that wrote that ignores some 50 odd years of private owners before the NCB, plus all the other types of mine too!
The bit about surveyors.reg 57.
It seems logical in para 3 to impose a penalty if no surveyor is appointed. However, in our case it means we can sack the surveyor, we have not been in production for 33 years so it wouldn't make any difference to us! :lol:

The main change is obviously to the stripping of responsibility from the Manager and dumping it on the "mine operator".
I suspect there will be a lot of pooing of pants and shuffling of feet in many companies higher management when they hand that job out........
I have yet to assess how that will affect me.
Obviously, the easy way to overcome the problem will be to make all the managers into senior management with large budget available. Otherwise, how does an operator get actual mining knowledge? Maybe they don't need it?

Having spent much time getting tickets and experience, I now feel undervalued. Maybe I should go off with stress? Hang on, I'm self employed.......

Camborne School of Mines in conjunction with RICS, have compiled what amounts to a replacement for the Mine Surveyors' ticket, with the merit that you can actually complete the course; similar situations apply for electricians etc.

...I didn't actually require a ticket when I was Mine Surveyor at Combe Down, because it wasn't coal and the Mines Inspector was willing to exercise his discretion... /quote]

Exactly, you were competent, you were employed to do the job. Coal doesn't come in to it, neither does the Mines Inspector, unless you get it badly wrong.

...Some bits were drawn up by the graduate on internship.....