Minutes of evidence taken before the Royal Commission on metalliferous mines and quarries : volume 1.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on Metalliferous Mines and Quarries.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Minutes of evidence taken before the Royal Commission on metalliferous mines and quarries : volume 1. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

    18/406 page 10
    10 June 1910.] Mr. M. Delevingne. [Continued. were 71 deaths from lung disease, and 29 from all other causes, making a total of 100. 185. (Mr. Greaves.) Are these the people in the mines ?—Miners. 186. Can yon show how they compare with a similar class of men not working in a mine; say out-door WOrk ?—I have not the figvu-es for the last three years, but yon will find that comparison made in Dr. Haldane’s report. Then as regards the number of deaths among the men engaged in rock-drilling work, which is the dangerous occupation against which the Special Rules are directed, the number of deaths was as follows :— The average for the years 1900 to 1902 was 44-7; for 14)07 the number was 48 ; in 1908, 31; and in 1909, 30 ; so that the deaths do show a considerable decrease. 187. Underground men only, or does it include the men in the open P—Underground men employed in rock drilling. 188. (Mr. Lewney.) What was the first year of the Special Rules ? — The Special Rules were made in 1905. 189. Since then there has been a declining death rate ?—A marked falling off in the number. 190. (Chairman.) I suppose that is complicated by the further question that some years ago there was a considerable addition to the men by those who had been working in the Transvaal who may have had that disease already?—Yes. I have a table* which distin- guishes the cases, where the men have been employed in Cornwall only, in Cornwall and Transvaal, in Cornwall and elsewhere abroad, in the Transvaal only, in the Transvaal and elsewhere abroad, and elsewhere abroad. The figures show that among men employed in Cornwall only 12 men died from lung disease in 1909, and of those three had only worked since the regulations had come into force. One was an old man who had worked only at rock drills for six months, and vdiose death could hardly be attributed to this work. Of the other two, one had been discharged from the Navy on accoruit of ill-health and had afterwards re- turned to mining, and the other had worked for some years in the Transvaal as well as in Cornwall, and may have inhaled much dust previous to his employment on rock drill work in Cornwall. 191. They were the figures of phthisis in the Cornish country generally?—We would suggest that the Commission should consider not only the working of the existing rules, but also in what classes of other metalliferous mines, if any, similar rules are required, 192. These rules only apply to that set of Cornish mines ?—Yes, and similar rides to ganister mines. Among the minor points, I have mentioned the hours of employment of women and young persons above ground. If the application of the Factory Act to pit banks is repealed some provision will have to be inserted to take its place. Then there is the question of sanitary accommodation. That has been dealt with by the other Royal Commission in their Second Report, and I think perhaps I need not refer to that any further. Then lastly there is the question of the fencing of shafts of abandoned mines. That is at present a duty placed partly on the inspectors of mines and partly on the local authority. It is a duty which sometimes gives a good deal of trouble to the inspectors, and is somewhat alien to their proper work of inspec- tion. We suggest for consideration whether that is not a duty which should be placed wholly on the local authorities of the district in which the mine is situated. 193. (Mr. Lewney.) Do you suggest that the control of sanitary accommodation should be transferred to the local authority?—The sanitary accommodation below ground I was referring to. That remains under the mines inspector. 194. What about on the surface ?—At present the Factory Act applies to pit banks, and requires sanitary accommodation to be provided on the surface, but where the local authority have adopted section 22 of the Public Health Act, 1890, they are the authority for * See Reports of Joseph S. Martin, I.S.O., H.M. Inspector of Mines for the Southern District for the year 1909, p. 38. [Cd. 5177X], 1910. seeing that sanitary accommodation is provided. We have not any special views on the point. That is all I have to say. 195. (Chairman.) That is all on the metalliferous questions. Now will you go on and deal with the quarries ? Will you please outline for us the views you wish to present with regard to quarries ?—Yes. The history of the question of the regulation of work in quarries really began in 1894. when the Quarries Act was passed. That Act followed on the Report* of the Departmental Committee called the Open Quarries Committee. Before that date quarries were only regulated by the Factory Act, and they came under the Factory Act as factories or workshops, factories if power was used in aid of the process of quarrying, and workshops if no power was used, or only used for hauling or pumping; but quarries in which no power was used (or only for haulage or pumping) and only adult males were employed, which constitute, of course, a very large proportion of the cases were practically exempt from the Act altogether. There are no com- plete statistics available before 1894, but a few will be found in the Appendix to the Report of the Open Quarries Committee. 196. They would have been workshops where no power was used ?—If no power was used and only adult males employed they would be men's workshops. 197. Practically exempt from that Act?—Yes. Men’s workshops are more under the Act now than they used to be. Then came the Act of 1894. There are two points which require to be noticed on that Act. The first is that it only deals with quarries over 20 feet in depth, and the second is that it applies to quarries certain provisions of the Metalliferous Mines Act, of which the most important are those relating to the reporting of accidents, the framing of Special Rules, making annual returns, inquests, and so on. but it left the application of the Factory and Workshop Acts untouched except as regards the accident provisions of those Acts, which were no longer to apply. So that the situation at the present time is this. Quarries over 20 feet deep are subject both to the Quarries Act of 1894 and to the Factory and Work- shop Act, 1901, excepting only the provisions as to acci- dents, and they are under the inspection of the mines inspectors. Then, secondly, quarries 20 feet deep only or less are subject to the Factory and Workshop Act only, and are under the inspection of the factory inspectors. Perhaps I may add that the Home Office is advised that the Act of 1894 only applies to the actual pit or hole or excavation where the mineral is being got, including all work in connection with getting, loading, conveying, and preparing the mineral inside the actual pit. Works outside the pit in con- nection with dressing or preparing would not be under the Quarries Act, but would be under the Factory Act. The mines inspectors have been given the powers of factory inspectors to inspect such works. 198. Under the Coal Mines Act the word “ mine ” would have a wider signification?—Yes. The Home Office has foimd in administration that the application of the two sets of Acts is very confusing. The fact that the inspectors have to enforce two sets of Acts, and that the occupiers and workmen have to observe two sets of Acts, hampers administration on the part of the inspectors, and makes observance of the law difficult on the part of the workmen and the owners. The inspectors have long recommended that all the legislation relating to quarries should be contained in a single Act. Then as regards the limit of 20 feet, on which the application of the Quarries Act turns, it appears to be rather anomalous, and also it has been found by experience a source of difficulty. It was impossible at the time the Act was passed to have placed the inspection of all quarries on the inspectors at once. They would have been swamped, and some arbitrary line had to be drawn, but the 20 feet limit does not work satisfactorily. It brings in many places of no particular importance, and excludes many which are important, both from the point of view of danger * C. 7237. 1894,
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