0.—2

Of the eleven fatalities four were due to falls of coal or stone and one was caused by a jig-prop coming out and striking the miner when he was trimming down some top coal. In the District Inspectors' reports appear short statements concerning each of the fatalities, but some of them call for some further comment. The two which occurred in the Northern District were very unusual ones and, with a little more care, perhaps both could have been avoided. The machine men in the Renown Mine had been warned not to lift the gate-end boxes on to the coal-cutters, but the practice continued and a faulty earth on one of the boxes completed a set of circumstances which resulted in the death of machinerunner Nicholas Belich. The other Northern District fatality occurred in a colliery screening-plant. No one witnessed it, but it is surmized that the deceased, John Clark, a screen-attendant, went in alongside the main driving-belt and was caught by it and pulled in between two running pulleys. Two of the fatalities, which occurred in the West Coast District, appear to have been avoidable. The workmen were at 8 p.m. trimming down loose debris after shots had been fired in a bluff overlooking a traffic road and, when darkness came on, the men ceased and had their lunches. One, however, went beneath loose material which had not been trimmed down and was struck by falling stone. When acting as fireman-deputy and making the statutory morning inspection of working-places prior to the men entering the mine a manager was • seriously burned by an ignition of fire-damp. He died about three weeks later. Had everything been in order the accident would not have occurred. It has since been suggested that persons making such inspections should be equipped with another lamp. Many take in an additional flame safety-lamp and leave it at the entrance to a working-place when that place is being examined. Should the lamp that the examiner is carrying be extinguished, he has to retreat, in the darkness, only to the other lighted lamp. Twenty-four serious non-fatal accidents were reported to the District Inspectors during 1938. Of the ten which occurred in the West Coast District seven were through falls of stone or coal, and of the six in the Southern District all were due to falls of coal. Only one of the eight accidents in the Northern District was caused by a fall of coal, but three men slipped on rails in Northern coalmines and suffered serious accidents. Two men were jammed between mine-tubs in that district, one in a West Coast colliery and one in a Southern District mine. SECTION IV.—WORKING OF THE COAL-MINES ACT. (a) Permitted Explosives. (Regulations 233 to 237 inclusive.) The following is a table showing the quantity of permitted explosives used and- the number of shots fired in New Zealand coal-mines during 1938 : —

(6) List of Mines at which Permitted Explosives are used. The following is a list of mines as at the 31st December, 1938, at which permitted explosives are used :— Northern Inspection District. Pukemiro, Pukemiro —Throughout North and South Mines. Rotowaro, Rotowaro —Throughout No. 1 and No. 3 Mines. Glen Af'ton, Glen Afton —All sections of the mine. Mac Donald, Waikokowai —Throughout all sections of the mine. Waikato Extended Colliery, Huntly—All sections. Renown, Renown —All sections. Wilton, Glen Massey —All sections.

63

Quantity of Per- , mitted Explosives Number of Misfired Shots. used (lb.). gg -> T , © © © ryrrt Number > > ~ c Inspection District. ~ of 5 o 5 & 5 $ p, 2 <u Shots fired. «> «•§ « a g~ o .*3 © ot ©o3 ©.2 , , g 5 § i TS| ta o Total - gS a I fl j fl j | a= " | I w n w o ■< Tons. Northern (i.e., North Island; .. 142,283 2,1.32 167,397 2 22 6 30 692,451. West Coast (of South Island) .. 133,557 126,909 315,451 16 134 121 5 276 981,958 Southern (i.e., Canterbury, Otago, .. 93,113 110,701 .. 4 9 13 323,344 and Southland) Totals .. .. 275,840 222,154 593,549 18 160 136 5 319 1,997,753 ! ;