§ MR. ELLIS (Nottinghamshire, Rushcliffe)To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether any special appointments of persons have been made under Section 15 of The Railway Employment (Prevention of Accidents) Act, 1900; and whether any inquiries have been held and experiments have been made under the same section.
(Answered by Mr. Kearley.) The two assistant inspecting officers of railways, who have conducted practically all the inspections made under the Act of 1900, were added to the staff of the department in January 1901. An additional sub-inspecting officer was also appointed in March 1904. In addition to the inquiries which are continually being held, where necessary, by these officers into the causes of accidents to railway servants, and to numerous inspections under Section 13 of the Act, special investigation has been made in some cases where a railway company has objected to a rule proposed by the Board under the Act for reasons connected with special circumstances on a railway. The Railway Employment Safety Appliances Committee, who were appointed in April 1906, were also directed, inter alia, to make with the co-operation of the railway companies such experiments as they deemed expedient. From the Committee's Reports it appears that they have made experiments with either-side brakes for waggons, and have also examined many inventions and appliances.