§ 17. Mr. TINKERasked the Secretary for Mines whether his attention has been drawn to His Majesty's inspector's report of the number of accidents reported to him from the North-Western Division, which includes Lancashire, wherein he states that only 48 per cent. were unavoidable; and what steps will be taken to make this known to all mine workers?
§ Mr. E. BROWNThis report and many other reports and papers prepared by my Department and the Safety in Mines Research Board are published with the express object of bringing to the notice of the mining community facts, figures and
§ other countries for the first six months of 1932, 1933 and 1934, with the average price of all exported coal in those three periods?
§ Mr. E. BROWNParticulars of the quantities of coal exported during June, 1934, are not yet available but, with the hon. Member's permission, I will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT. a statistical table showing the information for the first five months of each year.
Mr. GRENFELLWill the Minister inform the House whether, while there has been an increase in the volume exported, there has been an apparent decrease in prices?
§ Following is the table:
§ suggestions in matters of safety, but I am to a large extent dependent on the Press and on those who represent, or are directly in contact with, the general body of mine workers for bringing information contained in published reports to the notice of those who do not read them. The hon. Member may be aware that a short and simple statement in regard to avoidable accidents is issued by my Department every month and is published. It is also reprinted by the Press for circulation as a leaflet.
§ 18. Mr. TINKERasked the Secretary for Mines whether, in the preparation of the statistics of accidents in mines, His 165 Majesty's inspectors make a report of the time of the shift when the accident occurs; and, if so, will he state what is the percentage of fatal and non-fatal accidents after three-quarter time of the shift has been worked?
§ Mr. E. BROWNThe accident returns made to the inspectors by colliery companies include particulars of the times of the occurrences. The figures for 1925 and 1927 were investigated to find out whether the value of a tabulation, in which the time factor was included, would justify the time and trouble involved. In both years the proportion of accidents occurring during the last quarter of the shift was approximately one-fifth of the total number for non-fatal accidents, and rather less than one-quarter for fatal accidents. This information having been obtained, it has not been considered necessary to make a similar tabulation for subsequent years.
§ Mr. TINKERIs the hon. Gentleman aware that the greater number of accidents happen where overtime is being worked and that we would like him to make a further investigation?
§ Mr. BROWNI will consider it, but my hon. Friend must understand that in the previous two years the same idea was prevalent, but it was not proved. The bigger number of accidents was in the centre and not at the end of shifts.