REPORT UNDER THE COAL MINES ACTS. SECTION I. PERSONS EMPLOYED. The total number of persons employed in and about the mines under the Coal Mines Regulation Acts was 97,877, being an increase of 4,258 on the previous year. In South Durham there was an increase of 4,057. In the ironstone mines in Cleveland the increase was 201; whilst in the coal mines of Westmorland there was a decrease of 1, and in the coal mines of the North Riding an increase of 1. Twelve women were employed, or 5 less than in the previous year. They are principally engaged in cleaning offices, attending telephones, and similar occupations. The total quantity of minerals raised under the Coal Mines Acts was 32,790,475 tons, an increase of 1,603,495 tons on the previous year. In South Durham there was an increase of 1,436,411 tons; in Westmorland a decrease of 42 tons; in the North Riding of Yorkshire there was a decrease of 814 tons of coal, and there was an increase of 167,940 tons from the ironstone mines in Cleveland. Coal shows an increase of 1,419,643 tons; fire-clay an increase of 13,970 tons; plate clay and shale an increase of 228 tons; ironstone shows an increase of 167,940 tons; and there were 424 tons of igneous rocks worked at coal mines in 1906, as against 900 in the previous year, and 7,199 tons of barytes against 4,034 in 1905. (b.) QUANTITY of MINERAL RAISED per PERSON EMPLOYED. There were 132 coal-cutting machines at work at the end of the year, being an increase of 27 on the previous year; 55 of these were driven by electricity and 77 by compressed air. The total amount of coal produced was 902,219 tons, being an increase of 225,936. This return again shows a considerable increase both in the number of machines at work and the quantity of mineral obtained, and a still further increase may be expected as the thin seams are more extensively opened out, especially at those collieries where the production of the highest percentage of large coal is of importance. TABLE (3). PARTICULARS respecting COAL-CUTTING MACHINES at WORK during the year ending December 31st, 1906. It is with much regret that I have to report an increase of 45 fatal accidents and of 71 deaths, compared with the year 1905. The increases were 25 in the number of accidents due to falls, 2 in the number of explosions, 16 in those classed as miscellaneous underground, and 2 in those occurring on the surface. The number of shaft accidents remained the same. The number of fatal accidents reported was 132, causing the deaths of 159 persons, and the number of non-fatal accidents reported was 353, causing injuries to 367 persons. Of the 132 fatal accidents, 17, resulting in the deaths of 18 persons, occurred in the ironstone mines in the Cleveland division of Yorkshire. The number of persons injured at these ironstone mines was 71, as against 72 last year. Twenty-five deaths were also reported, but, on being investigated, were found not to come within the provisions of the Coal Mines Regulation Acts. A list of these is given in Appendix I. Whilst it is with great regret that I have to report so many accidents from falls during the year, I have derived some satisfaction from figures which I have obtained in connection with several collieries. At more than one colliery with average outputs per annum of about 300,000 tons no fatal accident from falls in the face has occurred during the last ten years. At some other collieries the death-rate per million tons of output is very small, being as low as 1. But grouping several large collieries I find that the death-rate from falls at the face per million tons won has been 26 and the output nearly 40 million tons, which, to put the figures plainly, means that for every fatal accident almost four million tons were raised. I have been somewhat diffident about taking out these figures, but I have done so with the object of showing what can be done in this county as compared with the Courrières Colliery, and I give the figures in the hope that they will be an incentive to managers who may have death-rates exceeding those I have mentioned to endeavour to decrease the number of fatalities in the face. TABLE (4). SUMMARY OF FATAL and NON-FATAL ACCIDENTS, classified according to PLACE |