HC Deb 23 November 1911 vol 31 cc1436-8

(1) The owner, agent or manager of every mine shall keep in the office at the mine—

  1. (i.) a plan of the workings of the mine, up to a date not more than three months previously, showing—
    1. (a) the boundaries of the mine, where possible, and the position of the workings with regard to the surface and variations of level on the roadways from the Ordnance basis of ten feet or any multiple of ten feet; and
    2. (b) the general direction and rate of dip of the strata: and
    3. (c) the position, direction, and extent of every known fault of every seam with its vertical throw, and of every known washout and intrusive dyke; and
    4. (d) the depth of every shaft; and
  2. (ii.) a section of the strata sunk through, or, if that is not reasonably practicable, a section of every seam.

(2) The owner, agent, or manager of every mine shall also keep in the office at the mine a separate plan showing the system of ventilation in the mine, and in particular the general direction of the currents, the points where the quantity of air is measured, and the principal devices for the regulation and distribution of the air, and on every such plan the intake airways shall be coloured blue and the return airways red.

(3) Every such plan must be on a scale of not less than forty inches to the mile, and must be prepared by or under the supervision of a surveyor possessing the prescribed qualifications, and shall be of a durable character:

Provided that in the case of a mine opened before the passing of this Act it shall be sufficient if the scale of the plan is not less than the Ordnance scale of twenty-five inches to the mile.

(4) The owner, agent, or manager of the mine shall, on request at any time of an inspector, produce to him at the office at the mine such plans and section, and shall also on the like request mark on such plans and section the then state of the workings of the mine as respects the particulars required to be shown on the plan under Subsection (1) of this Section; and the inspector shall be entitled to examine the plans and section, and, for official purposes only, to make a copy of any part thereof.

(5) If the owner, agent, or manager of any mine fails to keep, or wilfully refuses to produce or allow to be examined or copied, any such plan or section, or wilfully withholds any portion thereof, or wilfully refuses, on request, to mark thereon the state of the workings of the mine, or conceals any part of those workings, or produces an imperfect or inaccurate plan or section, he shall (unless he shows that he was ignorant of the concealment, imperfection or inaccuracy) be guilty of an offence against this Act.

Further, the inspector may by notice in writing (whether a penalty for the offence has or has not been inflicted) require the owner, agent, or manager to cause an accurate plan and section, showing the particulars hereinbefore required, to be made within a reasonable time, at the expense of the owner of the mine, in accordance with the provisions hereinbefore contained, and if the owner, agent, or manager fails within twenty days after the requisition of the inspector, or within such further time as may be allowed by the Secretary of State, to cause such plan and section to be made as hereby required, he shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.

Sir C. CORY

I beg to move, in Subsection (1), paragraph (a), to leave out the word "roadways" ["level on the roadways"], and to insert instead thereof the words "main haulage roads."

The reason I move this is to make the Clause clear, and so that there will be some point in the mine which will compare with the Ordnance map. On the ordinary roads it would be almost impossible to do so.

Mr. HARMOOD-BANNER

I beg to second the Amendment.

Mr. MASTERMAN

This is a very small point, and I would ask my hon. Friend not to press it. We have no definition of haulage roads, and there would be no variation in levels shown. My hon. Friend knows how important it is that they should be shown.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.