§ Mr. STANTONasked the Home Secretary if his attention has been called to the fatal accidents in the coal mines of this country arising out of the neglect of the use of safety appliances to trams and travelling journeys on the main 1884W travelling roads in our mines; if his Department will at once enforce more stringently the existing laws; and if his Department will examine safety inventions to prevent such accidents held by poor inventors who cannot afford the cost of getting them on the market?
§ Mr. BRACEThe question of accidents receives the constant attention of the Mines Department and the inspectors, and the Regulations of the Act in regard to the use of safety appliances are strictly enforced. If my hon. Friend has any information which appears to point to laxity at any mine and will let me have the particulars, I will have inquiry made at once. New inventions of all kinds are constantly being brought to the notice of the Department and the Department is always ready to examine any safety invention, but it cannot give financial assistance towards placing them on the market.
§ Mr. STANTONasked the Home Secretary what steps his Department proposes to take in regard to the death of two, members of the mining rescue brigade which occurred recently in the Garw Valley, South Wales; if his attention has been called to the findings at the coroner's inquest and the warnings and statements made by the hon. Member for West Monmouthshire, Mr. Frank Hodges, the local miners' agent, and others; will his Department at once take steps to safeguard the lives of the members of our colliery rescue brigades by the introduction of a safer apparatus; and if such apparatus will be thoroughly tested before being put in use?
§ Mr. BRACEAt the request of the Home Office, Dr. Haldane, whose knowledge on the subject of rescue apparatus is unrivalled, has made a special investigation into the circumstances of this distressing occurrence, and the question of the steps to be taken for the prevention of similar accidents is being carefully considered by the Department in the light of his conclusions.