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MEXICAN UNREST THREATENS EXPLOSIVES SAFETY
Safety article by Harold Hough April/May 2009

Those who have been paying attention to the news know that there is a growing war between the Mexican police and drug cartels. Recently, there was a series of armed thefts of explosives from storage sites in Mexico along the southwest U.S. border. This growing unrest in Mexico has forced the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) to issue a warning to explosives users here in the U.S., especially along the US/Mexico border.

BATFE has several recommendations to improve explosives security at your site, including better inventorying and security measures (see these suggestions at www.atf.gov). However, there are other precautions a mining operation or explosives subcontractor can take to reduce the risk of explosives being stolen by Mexican drug cartels.

With that in mind, here are some ways you can limit the risk of allowing your explosives from getting into the wrong hands.

REVIEW YOUR PHYSICAL SECURITY. Inspect your perimeter security and report any indications of attempted thefts of explosives to BATFE (i.e., cut fences, unlocked gates, etc.). Also inspect your magazines and locks for any damage. Be sure to report any suspicious behavior at or near explosives storage and distribution areas or any indication of an attempted theft of explosive materials, like damage to magazine structures, or actual or attempted magazine break-ins.

Make sure all keys to magazines can be accounted for. If they cannot be located, or you do not know how many keys your employees possess, change your magazine locks

INVENTORY, INSPECT, IDENTIFY. The key to keeping your explosives magazine secure is to inventory the explosives regularly, inspect the stores to make sure the inventories are correct, and to correctly identify anyone allowed access to the explosives.

It is important to remember that no one should be allowed to have unsupervised control of the magazine. The person who inspects the explosives stockpile to make sure the inventory is correct and the stocks haven’t been tampered with can’t be the person who is responsible for the inventory. There must always be a system of checks and balances. That includes a duplicate copy of the inventory kept in the office.

USE EXPLOSIVES CONTRACTORS. Many mines and quarries hire explosive experts to set charges because it can be cheaper and involve less hassle. It also reduces the threat of losing some of the inventory to criminals. A contractor who provides services to several mines will be more likely to keep explosives at a central storage facility. This central storage can be made more secure than several stockpiles of explosives at several mines. And, since there will be more activity at this central location, there will be less likelihood that a theft will go unnoticed for a long period of time.

EXPLOSIVES ARE LESS SECURE WHEN THEY MOVE. Security is more lax during movement of explosives and there are several opportunities to steal it. Moving explosives means changing the inventory and putting explosives in a vehicle which is less secure. The first rule is that trucks that move the explosives must be secured and manned at all times. They can’t be left in the field during lunch break, nor should the explosives be left in an unlocked container in the truck. There must also be tight custody of the key when an explosives truck is in the field.

The explosives truck should be tightly controlled. It should leave the secure area just before it’s needed and should travel non-stop to the blasting site. After the shots have been set, it should go directly back to the secure area to return any unused explosives.

USE COMPUTER SOFTWARE TO DEVELOP SHOTS. Another security concern is consumption because unused explosives can be set aside, but recorded on the inventory as expended. Modern computer programs, however, have taken much of the guesswork out of explosives consumption. This allows the truck to take the exact amount out to the blasting site instead of a larger quantity.

SECURE DETONATORS. Detonators pose a special problem. Many homemade explosives are less sensitive and may fail to explode with an improvised detonator. A commercial detonator makes it more likely that a homemade bomb will work, which makes them special targets for criminals.

REPORT MISSING EXPLOSIVES IMMEDIATELY. There is a natural human response to not tell authorities about any missing explosives until a check has been made. However, this is a bad idea in this case. Call 1-888-ATF-BOMB immediately. The faster the authorities know of a loss, the greater the chance to catch the perpetrators.