§ 60. Mr. Kennedyasked the Secretary for Mines whether he has considered the increasing number of boys and lads killed 2156 and injured in surface and underground coal-mining operations in Scotland; that attendance at safety classes is a matter of great difficulty for many young persons; and whether, in view of the fact that the number of casualties suffered by boys of 14 and 15 is 12.7 per 1,000, while the casualties among youths and young men of 16 to 19 is less than half that rate, he will consider the desirability of providing better facilities for attendance at safety classes and of raising the age at which boys may be employed underground?
§ The Secretary for Mines (Captain Crookshank)I am aware that in recent years there has been some increase in the rate of accidents among boys of 14 and 15 years of age employed at mines in Scotland, but the hon. Member is under a misapprehension in stating that for all three-day accidents the rate for youths of 16 to 19 years is less than half that of the younger boys. For all such accidents, the rate per thousand persons employed is slightly less for those under 16 than for youths between 16 and 20. No particular difficulties in the way of the boys attending the organised safety classes in Scotland have been brought to my notice, but, if the hon. Member has any case in mind and will give me the necessary information, I will make inquiry. The question of raising the age at which boys may be employed underground has been raised in evidence before the Royal Commission on Safety in Coal Mines, and I must await the Commission's report.