EXPLOSIONS IN COAL MINES.

Grey River Argus, 26 March 1943, Page 2

EXPLOSIONS IN COAL MINES.

(To The Editor?. Sir,—lt is 47 years on Friday, 26th. inst., since the catastrophic explosion occurred in the Brunner Mme, in which 67 underground workers lost their lives— undoubtedly through inadequate ventilation. As one oi those that assisted to bring the victims to the surface, the experience is indellibly imprinted on my mind. There certainly was a very large accumulation of carbonated hydrogen that could not successfully be dispersed by the poor air current circulating in the dip where the explosion occurred. Mr J'ellicoe, a lawyer of Wellington, did his best to obtain compensation for the dependents of the victims, under a section of the Coal Mines Act, which provided that “the fact of an accident occurring in a mine was prima facie evidence that such accident was due to some negligence on the part of the mine owner.” I believe that judgment was given in favour of the dependents, but, in those days, employers’ _ cover insurance was not customary in respect to accidents. Claims were rarely made by workmen, either under the Mining Acts or Employer Liability Acts, and, not being covered, the mineowners could not meet the claims that were in the judgments. The system of accident insurance cover was not generally adopted until the passing of “The Workers’ Compensation for Accidents Act,” which came into force on October 1, 1900, and which, by the way, repealed the sections relating to accidents in mines in Coal and Mining Acts; but which, on representations being made to the Government, were re-enacted and are still law. It is to the credit of the public of those days that funds were raised and provision made for the wives and children of the victims. There was great sympathy evinced for the sufferers, and to quote a verse from the poem of Thomas Bracken, composed in connection with the disastrous explosion in the Kaitangata mine on February 1, 1879, in which thirty lives were lost, is fitting:— Not our’s to change the mystic second birth, Not our’s to bring the loved ones back again; But our’s to do our duty upon earth. By succouring the mourners who reremain, To them we’re linked in sympathetic chain.

Major Steward, M.P., for Waitaki wrote a beautiful poem on the Brunner disaster, and, no doubt, you will find it in your files of those far off days. One cannot stress the danger lurking in coal mines, where the workings are a long distance from the intake and the ventilation becomes vitiated through gases from :coal, timber, explosions through shot firing, and the exertions of the workmen. However, I must admit that there are difficulties in providing the necessary ventilation where the workings are a great distance down dips, and no doubt the further the workings are extended the lesser is the air current, and the ventilation becomes impure. I 'remember being in the Wallsend Mine in 1890 on two occasions. In

those days the workings were no! very far from the shafts, and the ventilation stimulated by a fan or the exhaust shaft, was very good The mine was very gassy in those days and every precaution was observed to prevent disaster. In 1871 an explosion took place, when mer were sinking a shaft at Wallsend. I well remember seeing the injured men in hospital at Greymouth. As the first Workmen’s Inspector of Gold Mines in the Inangahua District, I have the experience to know what is necessary to ensure the safe working in mines. The fullest and freest facilities should be given the workmen’s inspectors to carry out their inspections at all times as the safety and health of the workmen should be the first consideration of the authorities, whether the Government or the management; and the workmen should insist on this being done. Not the slightest 'risk should be taken. In this connection I would emphatically urge that the obnoxious section 24 of the Coal Mines Act Amendment. 1937, should be repealed. This section provides that 12 hours’ notice be given before an inspection by workmen’s inspectors, and it is a real danger to the safety and health of the men. It is remarkable that, after long years of coal mining in New Zealand, this provision should be introduced to impede inspections. I urge that the principal Act be amended, Section 130, Sub-section .3 to provide , that workmen’s’ inspectors be permitted to inspect a mine at any time by giving due notice, and that the words “once in every fortnight” be struck out. This is very necessary to prevent any calamity, such as has happened in the past. It is common knowledge that the Grey Valley mines are very gassy, and there is certainly a safety limit in working from' greatly extended dip workings, it being the opinion that for safety, ventilation and working shafts are necessary to tap extended dip workings at reasonable intervals. No doubt the late mine owners were very glad to be relieved of future and present responsibilities for health and safety. The clamant responsibility now rests with the State. I am etc., HENRY BELTS, Reefton, 22/3/1943.