§ 41. Mr. Rowsonasked the Secretary for Mines whether he can give comparative figures showing the number of explosions 2743 in the British mining industry and the French mining industry, and the number of persons killed in such explosions during the last 15 years?
§ Captain CrookshankWith the hon. Member's permission, I will circulate the available figures in the OFFICIAL REPORT. There may be some doubt whether the figures are strictly comparable, but they indicate that the French record in regard to explosions is proportionately so much better than our own that the French Gov-
§ Statement showing the number of explosions and the number of persons killed thereby at mines under the Coal Mines Act in Great Britain and at coal and lignite mines in France during the years 1920–34.
| Year. | Great Britain. | France. | ||||
| Number of explosions involving death. | Number of persons killed. | Number of explosions involving death. | Number of persons killed. | |||
| 1920 | … | … | 16 | 26 | 3 | 4 |
| 1921 | … | … | 15 | 19 | 4 | 25 |
| 1922 | … | … | 14 | 73 | 3 | 3 |
| 1923 | … | … | 16 | 60 | 1 | 2 |
| 1924 | … | … | 18 | 35 | 2 | 2 |
| 1925 | … | … | 11 | 29 | 1 | 1 |
| 1926 | … | … | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| 1927 | … | … | 11 | 72 | 4 | 13 |
| 1928 | … | … | 15 | 36 | — | — |
| 1929 | … | … | 13 | 34 | 4 | 35 |
| 1930 | … | … | 18 | 70 | 2 | 9 |
| 1931 | … | … | 12 | 107 | — | — |
| 1932 | … | … | 13 | 69 | — | — |
| 1933 | … | … | 8 | 35 | — | — |
| 1934 | … | … | 11 | 296 | — | — |
| NOTE.—Owing to the absence of detailed particulars of each separate accident in the case of France, there may be a few cases in which death was due to asphyxiation without an explosion having taken place. |