11 and 13. Mr. David Adamsasked the Secretary for Mines (1) how many safety officers at collieries have been transferred to other work as a result of war-time conditions; and whether he will take steps to see that the number of these officers is increased rather than decreased during the war;
(2) how he accounts for the fact that, as reported in his Annual Report, 1938, there has been little fresh progress in the organisation of safety committees and the appointment of safety officers at collieries during the year; and whether, in view of the undoubted benefits obtained through these committees and officers, and the disappointments resulting from a failure to develop these methods of promoting safety, he will take immediate steps in the matter?
§ Mr. LloydI have no information as to the transfer of safety officers to other duties. I am in agreement with the hon. Member as to the benefits likely to accrue from the appointment of these officers, the organisation of safety committees and other forms of safety activity at collieries. Some progress is being made, but I should be glad to see this form of safety work more widely adopted. At the same time, I accept the view expressed by the Royal Commission on Safety in Coal Mines that safety committees and safety officers are most likely to function successfully and achieve useful results if their appointment rests upon a voluntary basis.
Mr. AdamsArising out of the answer, which is to a certain extent unsatisfactory, inasmuch as the hon. Gentleman appears to be washing his hands of the appointment of these officers and committees, will he personally take an interest in this matter, which has much to do with the high rate of mortality in our Northern coalfields?
§ Mr. LloydYes, Sir. I am very much interested in this question, and I have instructed the officers of the Department to do everything they can to encourage the formation of these committees.
§ Mr. George GriffithsDoes not the hon. Gentleman think that a lot of education 179 in these committees will be wasted if these young people are working overtime day after day every week? For instance, I know of a young lad who did a double shift one day, and the company asked him to go back again—
12. Mr. Adamsasked the Secretary for Mines how many collieries in the country as a whole, and in county Durham, respectively, have special schemes, in addition to safety classes, for giving boys surface employment and training in haulage operations and in the use of safety appliances before they go to work underground; and whether, in view of a possible increase in pit accidents when pits begin to work at full war-time pressure, he will take active steps to increase the number of these safety training schemes?
§ Mr. LloydThe arrangements to train boys for work underground vary a great deal and no statistical analysis is available. The importance of effective training has been repeatedly stressed and I feel sure that the influence of my Department and the important recommendations of the Royal Commission will continue to be a stimulus to further improvements so far as present circumstances permit.
Mr. AdamsIn view of the great importance of this question from the point of view of the preservation of health and welfare and training, does the hon. Gentleman not consider it very desirable to have some statistical figures in this matter, and will he give further consideration to it?