SECTION III.
ACCIDENTS.

I received notice of 361 accidents which required to be reported in terms of the Coal Mines Regulation Act. The number of fatal accidents, including one which occurred in November, 1905, and which resulted in the death of the injured man on 11th June, was 66, with a loss of 74 lives, as compared with 74 accidents and 77 deaths during the year 1905. By 295 non-fatal accidents 323 persons were injured. All the fatal accidents happened in or about collieries, with the exception of one in an ironstone mine and another in a fireclay mine.

A list of the fatal accidents, with short details of each, is given in Appendix I. at the end of the report, and the following table (No. 5) gives a summary of all the accidents reported :

SUMMARY OF FATAL and NON-FATAL ACCIDENTS, classified according to PLACE

TABLE (5).

This heading does not include accidents occurring in the shaft, but not connected with its working, and therefore falling under one or other of the other headings. Thus accidents caused by explosions of fire-damp or coal dust, or by falls of ground, though occurring in the shaft, are included under the first and second headings respectively; and accidents in the shaft caused by explosives, suffocation by natural gases, irruptions of water, or underground fires, are included in the proper sub-heads under the heading "Miscellaneous Underground Accidents."

+ All accidents occurring from the breakage of chains (including lashing chains and bridle chains) are included under (a); accidents from the breakage of drawbars, hooks, or other couplings (in cases where men are run over or crushed) under (b).

Including accidents in which persons are knocked down by trams or tubs in motion though the wheels may

SUMMARY of FATAL and NON-FATAL ACCIDENTS, &c.-continued.

* Under this heading are included explosions from any part of a boiler, e.g., steam-pipes, valve chests, &c. See General Report and Statistics for 1902, Part II., pp. 92-3.

The death-rates from accidents per 1,000 persons employed were, below ground, 1.274; above ground, 1.397; and above and below ground, 1.297. Put in another way, one person out of every 784 employed below ground, one out of every 716 employed above ground, and one out of every 770 employed above and below ground lost his life by accident. The death-rate from accidents below ground is lower than it has been since 1894, but the above ground death-rate is unusually high, being higher than the underground mortality.

per

Explosions of fire-damp or coal-dust.-The explosions during the year numbered 45, and of these two proved fatal to three persons, while by 43 non-fatal explosions 58 sons were injured. The previous year there was the loss of one life by an explosion, while by non-fatal explosions 64 persons were injured.

As shown in the following table (No. 6) all the explosions, with one exception, were caused by naked lights :

TABLE (6).

ACCIDENTS from EXPLOSIONS of FIRE-DAMP or COAL-DUST, classified according

The first fatal explosion took place in Polmaise No. 2 Pit, Stirlingshire (No. 32 in the list in Appendix Î.), and by it two men lost their lives. It appears that by the instructions of the under manager the deceased and two firemen descended the pit on the morning of the accident-a Sunday-in order to make a stable near the pit bottom, and to fit up a signal in the workings of the Hartley seam. These men were joined at the pit bottom by the under manager, who sent the deceased with a safety lamp between them to fit up the signal, and told one of them, his own brother, to make an inspection with it, and then use their open lights. A few minutes after, a violent explosion occurred, and the bodies of the deceased were subsequently found in the level in the Hartley seam, about 150 yards distant from the shaft. This level is the return airway for the section of workings towards which they were proceeding. They were the only persons in that split of air at the time of the explosion, the other three men being at the stable, which was

ventilated by a separate split of air. There seems to be no doubt that the deceased carried a naked light with them, and this ignited fire-damp, which accumulated in the workings during the week end, when the speed of the ventilating fan seems to have been reduced one half.

This explosion would not have happened if the regulations had been strictly observed. Instead of the duly appointed fireman having first descended and made the prescribed inspection before the shift began, four men went down in the cage together. Again, the under manager sent his brother and the other man, neither of whom was the duly appointed fireman, into the workings instead of the proper fireman, who was present, and the examination, instead of extending to the whole section, was to be restricted to the immediate vicinity of where they were to be working. Had the fireman made the proper inspection with a safety lamp he would have discovered the fire-damp, and the explosion would not have occurred. It seems to me that there was no occasion to employ these men on a Sunday, and that the work they were sent to do could quite well have been done any other day.

The other fatal explosion (No. 283 in the list in Appendix I.) occurred in Dumbreck No. 2 Pit, Stirlingshire. The roof began to "work" in the working place of two miners and they retired, and after waiting a few minutes they returned, when one of their naked lights ignited gas, which the breaking of the roof had released. They were both injured by the explosion, and one of them succumbed to his injuries.

At least 21 of the 58 persons injured by explosions met with their injuries in consequence of either their own failure or failure on the part of the officials to comply with the regulations. Three overmen and four firemen were burnt while breaking the regulations, and other three firemen were injured by explosions not caused by any breach of

the rules.

Only one explosion could be attributed to a defect in a safety lamp. A fall of roof at a road head is said to have damaged a lamp used by a brusher, and also brought down gas, which ignited at the damaged lamp. Two firemen making an inspection with naked lights on a Sunday after the air current had been reversed ignited gas, and as the result of their folly were both burnt.

Falls of roof and side.-The number of fatal accidents during the year was 24, with a loss of 27 lives. This compares favourably with 34 accidents and 36 deaths for the year 1905, and it is a pleasure to be able to report for the third year in succession a decided decrease in the number of these fatalities. It is necessary to take the average for a number of years in order to find out, with any degree of certainty, whether or not any kind of accident is getting less prevalent, but it is to be hoped that at length the new propping regulations are effecting the increased immunity from accidents from falls of roof and side that was so confidently expected when these rules came into force. By seven falls of side nine lives were lost, while by 17 falls of roof 18 persons were killed. As regards non-fatal falls, 114 accidents resulted in the injury of 118 persons.

The following table (No. 7) gives an abstract showing the place where the accidents happened, with the number of lives lost and persons injured

TABLE (7).

ACCIDENTS from FALLS of ROOF and SIDE, classified according to the PLACE where

In two instances more than one person was killed by an accident. The first (No. 170 in Appendix I.) happened to two roadsinen who were engaged in drawing props from an old road 12 feet wide. They had drawn a large number, but were taken by surprise by a sudden fall of roof which knocked out the props which in an ordinary case would have protected them. Fatal accidents by falls while drawing timber are not of frequent occurrence in the district. The other accident (No. 382 in the list) took place in the

shaft of Simpsonland No. 2 Pit, Lanarkshire, and by it the manager, the overman, and a roadsman lost their lives. It appears that when the dip cage containing two empty hutches was being lowered it stuck about 6 fathoms above the main coal bottom, and after being released by two of the deceased climbing up the shaft, they spent some 45 minutes in putting right the defect, but what the defect was does not seem to be known. In response to a signal, the engineman was slowly lowering the cage, when the side of the shaft collapsed and broke the barring some 6 or 7 fathoms above the cage. The consequence was that the falling mass of débris struck the cage and broke the rope. The bodies of the deceased were afterwards found in the cage seat beneath the cage. Apparently the pressure behind the 4-inch barring first broke the buntons, and then the barring itself gave way.

At least two of the seven fatal falls of side were caused by the want of sprags to support the coal while being holed, while at least three of the lives lost by falls of roof were apparently due to the failure to set props in accordance with the regulations. Three of the non-fatal accidents by falls of side were due to the want of sprags, and five by falls of roof to the want of props set in accordance with the Special Rules. Generally speaking the propping regulations are now being better observed than was formerly the case, although instances are still to be found in which neither the officials nor the miners can be said to have made much advance as compared with the former haphazard method of providing against falls. There is still a difficulty with some of the mine owners in getting them to fix as the maximum distance, specified in the notice kept posted at the mine, the distance which experience shows may not be exceeded in actual practice, the intention evidently being to escape the responsibility caused by failures to comply with the regulations which would be more numerous if the prescribed distance between props was made less. Responsibility for an accident cannot be evaded in this manner, because, suppose that a man got killed by a fall of roof in his working place when the specified distance is not exceeded but when the distance between the props at the time of the accident considerably exceeded what was found necessary to secure the roof, the mine owner could not get rid of his responsibility by pointing out that he had complied with Additional Special Rules 6 to 8, seeing that he and the manager would be confronted with General Rule 21, which requires that the roof of every working place shall be made secure. In a case such as this I am of opinion that in the event of a prosecution an owner or manager would be more likely to be convicted than if the specified distance had been fixed so as to coincide with what experience found to be necessary. Again, where too great a specified distance is fixed, the officials have much greater difficulty in getting the miners to put up additional props, and are not in such a favourable position to enforce the securing of the roof by prosecution or otherwise when necessary.

Shaft accidents.-The fatalities in shafts have again been more numerous than usual. By 12 accidents 13 persons lost their lives, being the same number of accidents and deaths as during the previous year.

By an accident at Houldsworth Colliery (No. 280 in the list) two men were killed and another was injured. The shaft is 205 fathoms deep, and on the morning of the accident 15 men were being lowered to their work in the "rise" cage. The following is the engineman's statement:-"I had let down most of the men before the accident happened. In lowering men against an empty ascending cage I use steam for the first 30 fathoms. The cages then run to about the meeting point without steam, but with the foot-brake applied. I then reverse the link motion and use steam to assist the brake. On this occasion the steam acted all right as a brake until the cage got within 8 fathoms, or a stroke of the engines, of the bottom, when I noticed that the steam did not seem to enter the cylinders and check the speed. I had also a difficulty in opening further the steam valve. Just as the cage would reach the pit bottom I applied the steam brake and the cage stopped. The moment the engine stopped it started in the reverse direction, as the link motion was reversed and steam was on, and the rise cage would be raised 2 fathoms before I shut off steam and stopped the engine. The boilers sometimes prime, and I think water in the steam pipe prevented the engine from working properly." The cage was not damaged, and most of the men in it were not injured. One of the deceased and the injured man (the overman) were found in the cage seat, and the other man, who was killed, was found hanging over one end of the cage, having evidently been crushed by a beam when the cage was raised. Apparently the sudden raising of the cage from the cage seat was the cause of the accident. There was no evidence to support the engineman's statement that the priming of the boilers caused him to lose control of his engine.

There were two fatal accidents caused by the deceased opening the gate fencing the

shaft at the ground level, and, under the mistaken impression that the cage was there, pushing an empty hutch into the open shaft and falling after it. I would recommend managers to treat the "low scaffold," as it is termed, as if it were a mid-working, and make the Special Rules applicable to mid-workings apply to it, with the view of preventing such accidents as these. It is also desirable, in the interests of safety, that the "low scaffold" should be used as little as possible either for men or materials being lowered or raised in the shaft.

Accidents from falling down the shaft from mid-workings are now comparatively of rare occurrence and happen very seldom indeed in cases in which the Special Rules relating to mid-workings are observed. One man lost his life from this cause during the year (No. 218 in the list in Appendix I.). The deceased, instead of asking the bottomer to signal for the cage for him to ascend, did this himself. The cage was raised to the mid-working, but he opened the wrong gate, and not noticing his mistake stepped into the open shaft and fell to the bottom. In this case there was a gate for each cage, but they were both connected by one wire to one indicator in the engine-house. Consequently, the engineman could not know, as he ought, which gate was opened.

In

The non-fatal shaft accidents numbered 9, and by them 11 persons were injured. two cases the injured men had narrow escapes. The first was that of an overman who, while steadying a "kettle" at a mid-working, overbalanced himself and fell a depth of 16 fathoms. The other was that of a sinker, under whom a plank when he stepped on it gave way, and he fell a distance of 15 fathoms.

Miscellaneous underground accidents.-During the year there were 15 fatal accidents, resulting in the death of 16 persons, as compared with 17 accidents and 17 deaths the preceding year. The non-fatal accidents numbered 90, and by these 96 persons were injured, being an increase of 9 accidents and 5 persons injured. Table (5) gives a summary of the various kinds of these accidents, and the following tables (8) and (9) give certain particulars regarding the accidents caused by explosives :

TABLE (8).

ACCIDENTS With EXPLOSIVES, classified according to the NATURE of the EXPLOSIVE.

ACCIDENTS with EXPLOSIVES, classified according to their CHARACTER or CAUSE.

Not including accidents which come under the heads of "While thawing" or or stemming holes."

"While charging