AGY-5010 | [Mercantile] Explosives Department (1894-1922) / Explosives Branch (1922- )

Full description

This agency appears to have commenced as the Mercantile Explosives Department (a branch of Treasury) by the mid-1890s. (1)

The Explosives Act was introduced in 1902 (2), and subsequently revised in 1905. (3) The Superintendant was granted the powers of an Inspector under the Act, with all persons employed under his control to be in charge of explosives and sworn in as Special Constables. (4)

In 1905 following several accidental deaths caused by explosives, it was recommended that if managers had all shots fired by competent men there would probably be an improvement in the number of accidents caused by explosives. (5) The Department was also responsible for the administration of the Inflammable Liquid Act 1915. (6) 

The branch appears to have been transferred from Treasury to Mines in 1922 (7), where it remained until the mid-1970s. (8) By the end of 1975,  it was part of the Department of Labour and Industry. (9)

Endnotes
1. Public Service List 1894 (1/01/1894 given as date of appointment of Superintendant)
2. Explosives Act 1902, (Act No. 96, 1902).
3. Explosives Act 1905, (Act No.41, 1905) s.7.
4. Ibid, s.37.
5. Parliamentary Papers 1906, Vol 3, Annual Report of the Department of Mines for the year 1905, p.603.
6. Inflammable Liquid 1915  (Act No.15, 1915).
7. NSW Government Gazette, 15 September 1922, p. 5081 (notice of transfer of responsibility for the relevant Acts from the Colonial Treasurer to the Secretary for Mines).
8. The branch was still part of Mines in October 1974, prior to relocation. See Special file no. 47, Removal of Explosives Department 1949-74 (NRS 10045, 3/14163).
9. NSW Departmental Telephone Directory, 1975, pp. 145, 163.