"SAFETY FIRST" POLICY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18585, 18 December 1923, Page 10

"SAFETY FIRST" POLICY

GOVERNMENT AND « MINES. testing electric, lamps. ;0 y ' ■ \VS'' : ' :; - : ' ■£ reply to- complaints. • [ax TEr.SGR.Vrn.— ' ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON. Monday. Mr. V. Fraser. M.P., and Mr. P. O'Rourke, secretary of > the New Zealand Miners' Federation, laid before the Minister for Mines, the Hon. G. J. Anderson, to-day various matters concerning ■ the safety of miners. The subjects mentioned included the question of the better fencing of a certain North Auckland shaft; a case of .alleged non-compliance with the section of the Act requiring two shafts to every . pit: the problem of miners , cottages, the safety of which was said to be threatened" by the working of coal underneath them; the need for the frequent analysis, of air in fiery mines at HUntly and elsewhere; the necessity for safety appliances to provide against fire and for training a number of miners as a kind of fire brigade; the unemployment at the Waikato mines owing to the shortage of railway trucks; and a weighbridge dispute and the alleged • victimisation of a check weigbman at Huntly. ' ' due Minister states that the cottage difficulty had been adjusted, and that the man alleged to be victimised was now at work again. The other matters referred to would be inquired into. The safety appliances desired, he said, were already installed at Deninston and at the State mines, and the , men would be trained in the use of them. If the miners took samples of the air in fiery mines the Government would analyse them and send the union the , report of the analysis. , The Government's policy, the Minister added, was safety-first in all matters affecting mining. The department was testing eight different types of electric safety lamps. So far it had been found that the Pearson lamp, ordered from togland, gave the best light for eight hours. The Government was anxious to obtain the best possible lamp, and . when the tests were completed he would order the best for the State's mines and recommend it to the owners of other mines. :: .