UK Coal charged over deaths

[dazbt]

UK Coal charged over deaths of Daw Mill Colliery miners

tinyurl.com/ylh4eno

[John]

Interesting, time someone "paid" for negligence. I wonder if any mine Manager or Area Director was ever charged under NCB or BC ownership??? After all nobody was cited over Cresswell, and what about Lofthouse, I recall the Judge was pretty critical with the Manager and NCB Area Planning, But don't think any faced charges. Now had both been private enterprise then possibly a few charges would have been laid. Cresswell was a tragedy but Lofthouse was carelessness and negligence.

[dazbt]

I think that 'some' of the Houghton Main management were actually taken to court as a result of the 1975 disaster, but I couldn't swear to that, other than that incident I can't think of any other in modern times anyway.

Houghton Main report;

www.dmm2.org.uk/uknames/y1975-01.htm

[John]

A lot of things that happened under nationalisation were due to Inspectors not taking a more positive stand. Although both you and I were in the "firing sights" of Inspectors being in Districts they were examining, there was a lot went off they didn't want to know about. One such this was mentioned in another thread to our American Friend Lannie, regarding minimum roof heights in travelling roads. How often was a tailgate or maingate well below that dictated by the M&Q Act of 1954?? I only ever recall one exemption to that regulation, 12's T/G which was designated an emergency egress from the face only. All supplies for the T/G went through the face as the T/G was condemned! Technically, the Inspector should have closed the face down. I'll check that link Daz.

[John]

There was one that springs to mind Daz, just had a bell go off in my head. A pit in South Wales in the 60's. Plough face, haulage unit in both gates, one broke down, GEB fault. Pretty ancient GEB too if memory serves me right. The Manager, U/Manager, Unit Elec Engineer, shift Elec Engineer and district electrician were killed from recollection, so nobody to prosecute. Door was found open with interlocks defeated on the GEB. A trap door on an overcast was being used to transfer supplies, short circuiting the air supply, gas build up and the electrician pushed the haulage contactor home with a hammer shaft. On release the sparks ignited the firedamp killing most in the district. I think the reports on the DMM site too.

[dazbt]

I could never really understand the logic of some of the HMIs, I've seen faces stopped because of an HMI spotting a couple of missing fishplate bolts but I've also had to continue working on faces where the Inspector wouldn't travel the gates because of the height or risk. One particular face that I worked on, had, within a period of a few months experienced multiple serious ignitions within the shearer drum, at least one of which resulted in a sustained fire, five of these incidents were reported and the face stood down each time, there was an inquiry and each time some modification was proposed and accepted in an attempt to prevent a re-occurrence, mainly the fitting of venturi air flows through the drum shaft to diffuse and dilute methane build up in the area of pick contact. Each time the Inspector allowed the face to restart with constant manual methane monitoring samples being taken at various intervals and some attempt at improving the efficiency of the venturi air flow, I, along with many others went on that face on a daily basis just waiting for the big bang ........ not sure on reflection who was the daftest, us or the HMI.
In my opinion the Houghton Main disaster was one of culpable neglect but from what little I know of the facts surrounding the Lofthouse disaster I believe that was a tragic accident, resultant of a lack of proper and accurate historical recording of centuries earlier coal mining, if I remember correctly there were no maps showing the old workings that had flooded and resulted in the tragic inrush, but sometime after the fact a notebook was found that provided some rough evidence of such working having taken place. In view of the fact that the Lofthouse take was likely to have have been near older workings, it would obviously in hindsight now be considered to be pertinent and necessary to fore-bore the coal, that lesson still not learned perhaps, even after the Quecreek event, funny old job, coal mining.

[John]

I recall two incidents I was involved with, those were at Boulby Potash mine in North Yorks. I was the electrician covering the East and south east districts, two distinct "Deputies" districts. I had to cover, three Joy cutters, three Secoma drillrigs, and three Secoma roofbolters, plus aux vent fans, one Stamler feeder breaker plus all GEB's and transformers for the east district, the south east side had one full set of machines.
There was a maintenance area where one full set of machines was maintained, some done by shift maintenance assistants and involved work by day shift leckos and fitters. The roof was 15 feet high and we were working a modified bord and pillar system at over 4000ft below the surface. Conditions for that depth weren't too bad, pretty hot but reasonable roof.
The pillar ribs were getting pretty bad in the maintenance area, such that both the fitters and ourselves refused to work on any machine in there, I also refused to allow my maintenance assistant to work in that area.
Due to out stand, management decided to stop using the area and started pulling machines out and recover cables going through it. A rib collapsed killing one miner and severely injuring another miner.

Not long after that, I laid the law down on a substation that housed two 600KVa air cooled flameproof tarnsformers, two banks of section switches and GEB's. The transformers were 6.6KV down to 1100 volts.
I'd consistantly reported on my weekly exam sheets and shift reports the "dangerous" condition of the rib of a pillar. Nothing done.
My weekly exam of the equipment I stated the equipment was in serious danger of being damaged if the rib collapsed, and on reaching the surface I notified my Elec Superintendent I was giving the mining side seven days to rectify the situation. "He was a Geordie, " Dinna tell me Bonnie lad" he said" go over there and tell mining side, I'll back you up with whatever you think is right"
Seven days elapsed, the lecko from day shift came out and he told me nothing had changed. I went to the mining supervisors office and told them that as soon as I got into the district, I was examining the main subs and if the rib was still in a dangerous condition, I was isolating and locking off power to the district.
Holy cow, the roof went up in that office! "You can't do that!!' "just watch me "!!
Just before descending the pit I had a mining crew attached to me with instructions to follow my orders.
After making the equipment safe, they put a long roofing bar in the crack and the whole rib just fell without any effort, several tons of rock that could have caused thousands of pounds worth of damage, or worse had I not stood my ground!

[John]

Trying to remember when the laws changed from mostly M&Q to S&H, sometime in the 70's. When it did it place more onus on the individual to "do the right thing". Although, the Manager was ultimately responsible for everyone's safety at his mine.
I was at British Gypsum when those new laws came into effect, and one of the mine foremen was going through some of the stuff he'd learn't with me. Seem's if he caught me doing something wrong, he was to give me a bollicking, but after that if I got hurt after he'd left me, then that was my fault. Under the old M&Q Act, management would still be held guilty to some degree.