THE MINES COMMISSION

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15861, 26 February 1912, Page 3

THE MINES COMMISSION

THE REPORT. [From Our Correspondent!]

"WELLINGTON, February 23. The Minister of Mines laid on the table this afternoon the report of the ■Commission appointed to investigate tlie methods of working and the hygienic conditions prevailing in the New Zealand coal and gold mines. It is a bulky document containing a good deal of information regarding mining practice in other parts of the world, and embodies a very large number of recommendations intended to improve New Zealand methods.

The Commission suggested that to meet the varying conditions of mining throughout the dominion a committee should be set up at each inline, with power to amend the special rule for working. It should comprise the mine manager, Inspector of Alines, and a representative of the men. Inspectors of Mines should have power to summarily prosecute for breaches of the law affecting the safety of workers. Additional power of inspection should be given to the workmen's representative. Lift* in pillar workings should b& restricted to 10ft in height, as high pillar working has been a fruitful source of accident. The maximum widths of boards and cut-throughs should be 12ft and 9ft respectively for a distance of two yards when opening out or breaking away, thereafter (the maximum widths should be 18ft and 12ft respectively. Three-cornered bars or caps in 661 timbering should be prohibited, and no timber should bo withdrawn exceptby lever and chain or blasting. More stringent regulations are suggested to reduce the dangers arising but of haulage, these include prohibition df chains on all but face jizs,' wire ropes to be substituted to minimise danger from explosions. The Commission recommends that_ inspectors should have power, to prohibit the use of electricity in any part of n mine where its- use would increase the liability to danger, and that electricity should bo altogether barred from any mine where the amount of inflammable gas in the air exceeds one-half per cent; also that workmen shall bo withdrawn from any place where the .proportion of inflammable gas exceeds 2J per cent. An improved signal code for the shaft is recommended, and fifteen other leas important suggestions are made regarding the safe working of machinery, which the committee found generally in a sotisfactorv condition. It is recommended that the Board of Examiners for mine managers should be reconstituted; that the' Court of Inquiry into ' accidents should be amended to consist of the warden and one mine manager and one miners' repres3iitative as' assessors, and that ambulances should bo installed at the mines, first aid lectures to be instituted in all mining centres. To secure improved ventilation tho Commission recommends the adoption of a carbon dioxide standard slightly stricter than the British standard. The maximum air temperature of any working place measured by the wet bulb thermometer should "not exceed 80 degrees. The majority of coal mines were found to be well ventilated, and this opinion is substantiated by the fact that only one life has been lost by fire damp fn fifteen years. Recommendations are made for underground sanitation and the provision of bath and change houses. A bath should be provided' wherever ten or more men are looated, while change houses should, be provided at all mines. • To prevent miners' phthisis, the Com- . mission recommends that water blasts ' or other suitable appliances for laying : dust, smoke and gases should be provided where rock drills are in use, and that no man shall return to an end rise winze or other close place until the air is free from dust, smoke or .fumes caused by blasting. As a measure of relief, it is suggested that miners suffering from fibrosis or superimposed tuberculosis of the lungs shall have free ' medical advice from a Government ex- j pert, and that adequate relief shall be provided from the Gold Miners' Relief i Fund which for that purpose shall be subsidised pound for pound by the i Government. I

The Commission finds that a considerable quantity of slack goes to waste in the Westport district. As a method of profitably utijißing it it recommends the adoption of specially-con-structed boilers. A premium or bonusshould be offered for the discovery of a process of producing marketable briquettes from New Zealand, soft coals or slack at a price which will compete with coal.

THE MINORITY REPORT. . [Per Press xlssocution.j WELLINGTON, February 23. A minority report was signed by Messrs Parry and Dowgray. It recommends the prohibition of the night shift and contracts, these being regarded as the chief causes of miners' complaint.. It also recommends payment of work-

men's inspectors, Mr Cochrane concurring in this.