§ 19. Mr. Croninasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the consideration that is being given to improving standards of safety in the coalmining industry.
§ Mr. EmeryImproved safety standards in the coalmining industry are the subject of continuing joint consultation and action by the Department, the National Coal Board and the mining trades unions and professional institutions, both in this country and through the Mines Safety and Health Commission of the European Communities.
The House will also wish to know that a public statement will be made today that the inquiry into the tragic accident at the Lofthouse Colliery will 24 open at Wakefield on Wednesday 30th May at 10 a.m.
§ Mr. CroninI appreciate that over the last few years there has been a considerable improvement in coalmining safety, but does not the recent Lofthouse disaster show that there is much to be done to improve the standards of safety? Can the hon. Gentleman assure us that he will give this matter rigorous consideration, and, bearing also in mind the recent evidence of the dangerous and arduous nature of the miners' work, does he not agree that the least this country owes them is a third week's holiday with pay?
§ Mr. EmeryOf course, the work of the miner is dangerous and arduous, but the previous accident resulting from an inrush of water from old workings took place 44 years ago. I think the hon. Member did the miners and their institutions less credit than they should have, because in the last 10 years ending in 1971 the fatal accident rate fell from 0.45 to 0.24 and the serious injury rate from 2.7 to 2.2 per 1,000 men employed. This is a record second to none in any mining country in the world.
§ Mr. VarleyDoes the Minister recall that when the statement about the Lofthouse colliery disaster was made I asked the Secretary of State if he would ask the National Coal Board to undertake an urgent survey of old, uncharted mine workings? Can the Minister now tell us whether anything has been done about that, and if so, what progress has been made?
§ Mr. EmeryYes, the situation was carried further forward from the question raised by the hon. Gentleman. As he will know, from 1872 onwards it became compulsory to deposit with the Secretary of State plans of abandoned mines. Many, however, are deficient and in many ways misleading. Many of the old shafts which have been filled in are now hidden and quite difficult to locate. Although tracing old works is difficult, the safety record in this area is very good, as the figures I gave show, but the bodies looking into this matter are concerned to try to ensure that that matter is kept up to the degree of efficiency which the whole nation would want.