§ MR. KEIR HARDIE (West Ham, S.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, whether, under the Notice of Accidents Act of last Session, stevedores who employ men direct make returns; will he explain how it is that, whereas the total number of accidents reported from docks under the Act for January was 17, in the Liverpool Docks alone there were 26 accidents, eight of them being fatal; and, whether he has power under the Act to call for a return from stevedores and other contractors as well as from Dock Companies.
§ MR. BRYCEStevedores and other contractors should report accidents which happen to their servants when employed in the construction, use, working or repair of any dock authorised by any Local or Personal Act of Parliament. Of course, the accident must be of sufficient gravity to fall within the terms of the Act. At present some accidents are reported directly by stevedores, and contractors, but the majority appear to be reported through the Dock Authorities; the hon. Member seems to be under some misapprehension as to the number of Dock Accidents reported to the Board of Trade during the month of January; 112 were reported; of these, 35 occurred to men employed in construction and repair, and 77 to those employed in the use or working of Docks; out of this total, 21 accidents were returned by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board as happening to persons in their employment; none of these were reported as fatal. The Board of Trade have been using their best endeavours to secure that the duty of reporting accidents imposed by the Act shall become generally known to employers; and they are always glad to receive any information which may enable them to check the accuracy of the returns.