396

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

February 23, 1917.

affected by this inspection and safety service will be
reflected in the statistics for this year or next. It is,
however, reasonable to believe that such a result will
be effected within the next three or four years, providing
as .good relative progress in the improvement of the
condition of the mines is made during the next few
years as during the past few months.

A concrete example of the manner in which insurance
inspection for fixing merit rates under workmen’s com-
pensation has effected improvement in the condition of
mines and the consequent safety of the workmen will
doubtless make this more clear. The following is
selected as representative of conditions occasionally
encountered among the more dangerous gaseous and
explosive mining districts :—

Inspection was made of one of a group of large mines
controlled by a powerful non-resident owner. The
inspector found the mine in a very hazardous condition,
on account of the presence of large quantities of explo-
sive gas and of fine coal dust. All the elements neces-
sary to a violent gas and dust explosion, which might
destroy the 200 or more underground workers, were pre-
sent. The mine was otherwise in a most unsafe condi-
tion, because of lack of sufficient protection to men from
falls of roof and coal, careless handling of explosives, bad
condition of haulage ways, and general neglect of the
safety of the mine workers. This condition existed in
spite of the fact that the controlling corporation had
employed an experienced mine manager, (superintendent
and foremen. The trouble lay in the lack of pressure
from a distant executive department for economy in
operation, and cheapness of production or tonnage cost
of coal, and consequent absorption of the local manage-
ment in getting out the coal as cheaply as possible, to
the neglect of safety conditions.

Immediately upon receipt of the report of the insur-
ance inspector, the head of the non-resident corpora-
tion was notified of the condition, and told that unless
the immediate hazards were removed within 48 hours,
the insurance policy would be cancelled. The result was
an immediate conference with the director of the inspec-
tion and safety department of the Associated -Companies,
who presented to the owner a detailed report, with the
main facts of which the mine manager concurred; in sub-
stance, to the effect that explosive coal dust was found in
large quantities throughout the entries, rooms, and old
workings; that gas in large qualities was given off in one
entry to such an extent that it was found in highly
explosive quantities at points 200 to 300 ft. distant,
passing rooms in which miners were working with open
lights. The only warning to prevent the men from
coming in contact with the accumulations of gas was
an old railway tie marked “ Danger ” lying across the
rails but a few feet from the beginning of the gas area,
and scarcely perceptible in the utter darkness of the
mine, covered as it was with dust and coal. One miner
was found to pass that with an open light, and when
asked if he knew of the danger, said : “ Yes; fireboss
told me to always watch and keep my lamp low.” In
another entry containing explosive gas there were no
warning signs to keep out men with open lights. The
men working in the gaseous area had safety lamps, but
on examination, two of these were found not locked and
one in bad condition, so that all three were liable to
have their flame come in contact with the gas. In this
area the men were using such dangerous explosive's as
dynamite, and pushing it into the holes without any
tamping. In other cases, inflammable coal slack was
being used for tamping black powder, and squibs, which
emit (showers of sparks, were used in igniting the
explosives.

The result was that orders were issued by the owner
for the immediate withdrawal of all workmen from the
explosive district, and also for work to be begun
promptly to improve the ventilation., system of timber-
ing, methods of using powder, and otherwise place the
mine in a safe condition as recomriiended by the Asso-
ciated Companies.

This condition is not uncommon in such regions. It
is one which has caused disastrous explosions, killing
in some instances hundreds of men. It is one to which
the Federal Bureau of Mines has repeatedly called
attention through its publications and its safety propa-
ganda. The Bureau of Mines had, however, no juris-
diction and no influence to improve such conditions,
other than by (attracting attention to them. The State
mine department had the lawful power to correct such
conditions, but though they were known in this and
other cases to the State inspectors, the latter found it
impossible to effect improvements, partly due to condi-
tions beyond their control. A State inspector can point
out and suggest improvements, but he has little power
to enforce them, in case the owner makes, an appeal to
the courts, for it is usually almost impossible for the
inspector to prove his case if his orders are contested.
Even then the State inspector can, as a rule, secure
only the improvement of the most obviously dangerous
conditions. Even when these are improved, they
remove only a portion of the accident causes, and the
mine will 'still be a serious menace to the safety of the
workmen, due to generally bad conditions.

Power of Inspectors.

The power possessed by the inspectors of the Asso-
ciated Companies is of two kinds—first, as concerns the
immediate catastrophe hazard through the threat of can-
cellation of policy. The effect of such action is instan-
taneous in the many cases where a mine is mortgaged
with some trust company. The demand of a trustee
that the danger be immediately removed and the oppor-
tunity for insurance made available, or the mortgage
would be cancelled, is necessarily productive of prompt
compliance. The second source of power, to improve
dangerous conditions other than from catastrophe hazard
and the threat of cancellation, consists in the high pre-
mium rate for insurance for an unsafe mine, which is
developed by a schedule rating inspection, and the con-

sequent fact that the money earned by the mine owner
in premium reduction on a large pay-roll would fre-
quently, in the first year alone, nearly pay for all the
improvements demanded, and at the same time place
the mine in a more safe and efficient working condition.

Take, for example, an inspection report made shortly
after the workmen’s compensation Act went into effect
in one State, which showed for a group of mines employ-
ing nearly 1,000 men an annual pay-roll of 500,000 dols.,
and a premium rate on first inspection of nearly 6 dols.
per 100 dols. of pay-roll, or a total annual insurance
premium of 30,000 dols. The improvements recom-
mended would, if complied with, reduce this premium to
less than 3 dols., and actually did so, with the resulting
premium reduction from 30,000 to 15,000dols. per
annum, a sum larger than was expended on all improve-
ments made. The inspection charges are on a basis of
100 per cent, perfect for each of the 12 groups of hazards
in a mine. The surface charges in the mines just
referred to were charged 25 demerits out of a possible
100, this for unguarded gears, dangerous railway cross-
ings, bad floors, etc. Shaft hazards were charged 37;
underground haulage system, 61; hazards from falls of
roof, 51; use of explosives, 60; electricity, 30; mine gas,
63; coal dust, 77; mine fires, 65; miscellaneous under-
ground hazards, 37 demerits. The human element, or
moral hazard, was charged 90 demerits, and absence of
safety organisation, 62 demerits, a total average for the
whole mine of 70-6 demerits out of a possible 100,
whereas the average number of demerits which corre-
sponds with the average condition of a mine in the
State was 25. In this particular case, ‘as in many
others, the prospect of reduction in premium to be paid
on insurance was such that within four months a re-in-
spection was requested by the assured on the ground that
they had improved all the conditions on which there
were charges. The re-inspection showed that in all
mines operated by this company the represented total
improvement had reduced the demerit charges to 8-5,
as against 70*6 on first inspection; which led to a reduc-
tion in premium rate from over 6 dols. per 100 dols. of
pay-roll to 2’82 dels, per 100 dols. of pay-roll. This was
equivalent to a saving of 15,000 dels, per annum in
insurance premium, a sum more than sufficient to pay
in one year for all the improvements made.

That this condition is not an isolated one is evidenced
by the fact that the 774 mines inspected and schedule-
rated in Pennsylvania, for which re-inspection results
are available for purposes of comparison, show an
average ' premium rate on the first inspection of
3-78 dols. per 100 dols. of pay-roll, and an (average pre-
mium rate on re-inspection of 2-82 dols. These sums
correspond with and are an index to the improvements
made in the safety condition of the mines. They indi-
cate a saving in premium to mine owners of nearly
500,000 dols., and they represent the power of that sum
of money as. a leverage to induce the mine operators to
make the improvements represented by such great pre-
mium reductions, and the corresponding improvement
for the safety of the workers in the mines concerned.

Attitude of Operators.

As evidencing the attitude of the mine operators to
workmen’s compensation insurance, thus administered,
by private stock insurance companies, it is well to record
that for several months this inspection service was the
subject of opposition and criticism. Since inspections
have been completed and reduced premium rates pro-
mulgated, in many cases as a result of improved condi-
tions, a much more friendly attitude has been shown.

One of the leading mine operators reports :—“ The
operating officials at our different properties were first
inclined to be a little sceptical and critical, believing that
no inspector acting under State or insurance authority
could tell them how to improve the conditions of their
mines. Since we have gone through it, however, it
gives me great pleasure to say that we have found your
inspection has been of great service .to us. Your
inspectors have disclosed conditions which have enabled
us to remove hazards, so that our properties are not only
in far better condition as regards safety, but the changes
we have made in our organisation and our methods put
us in closer touch with our working force, with the
result of increased efficiency and economy in operation.
We will be more than repaid for the expense we have
been put to in making the changes recommended.”

The chief mine inspector of one of thei greatest
mining States was somewhat sceptical, as were others,
as to the possibility of bringing about further improve-
ments than were practicable through his department, as
a result of workmen’s compensation application and the
cost of insurance thereunder, and he wrote that “ If all
the suggestions contained in your -safety standards are
complied with, a marked reduction in accidents would
no doubt result. I have found saying and doing are
entirely different things, and if you can succeed in
forcing compliance with these rules, you will accom-
plish what the State mining department has failed to
accomplish for years, without complete success, and
there should be a reduction of at least 50 per cent, fewer
accidents.”

Since the suggestions contained in the standards have
been very fully complied with in a majority of cases, it
is fair to- assume that his prediction will in some measure
be fulfilled, and there will be a marked reduction in the
number of accidents under the system adopted for the
insurance protection of workmen’s compensation obli-
gations.

Attitude of State Boards.

As evidencing the attitude of the State industrial
boards and the State insurance departments toward this
system of insurance and schedule rating by the Asso-
ciated Companies, it is necessary to point only to the
cordial relationship established in the three coal mining
States in which the law provides for compulsory work-
men’s compensation, coupled with a fair attitude toward
an encouragement of private insurance for the obligation,

viz., the States of Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Colo-
rado. In all three States the technical value of the
safety standards and the system of inspection and
schedule rating the various hazards within the mine has
received official approval, and has been adopted for all
insurance carriers in those States. In the States of
Pennsylvania and Kentucky, the department of inspec-
tion and safety of the Associated Companies has been
authorised to act as a central inspection and schedule
rating bureau for -all insurance carriers of coal mine
risks, with the result that in those two States over 90
per cent, of the mines are insured with either the Asso-
ciated Companies or the State fund, and are under the
inspection and safety service of the Associated Com-
panies, and, in consequence, vast sums have been
expended in the improving of safety conditions in the
mines of those- States.

It- has been the experience of the Associated Com-
panies in Pennsylvania, Iowa, and, at the present time,
in Kentucky, that many operators, on receiving the
report of their first inspection, have felt that the adjusted
rate is high, and that the making of the numerous
improvements recommended by the department of
inspection and safety would be too great an undertaking.
It has -also been found in a great many cases where -the
reports have been returned to the operator by the carry-
ing company, that the operator has been alarmed by the
number of recommendations submitted, and has been
inclined to throw up his hands without making a study
of the various recommendations. When, however, these
recommendations have been carefully explained, either
by the agent of the carrying company or by an inspector
for the Associated Companies, the operator frequently
finds that neither the cost nor the work of complying
with the recommendations is as great as he had anti-
cipated.

It is the desire of the Associated Companies to
co-operate with the operator in bringing about the sug-
gested improvements at the lowest possible cost. How
well this department has succeeded in this matter is
evidenced by a study of conditions in Pennsylvania bitu-
minous mines. The base rate for these mines is
3‘83doliS. The first inspection of 1,293 mines produced
an average rate of 3-56dols.; and .re-inspection of 694
of these mines produced an average rate of 2-94 dols.,
which was retroactive to the effective date of the policy.

LABOUR AHU WAGES.

South Wales and Monmouthshire.

The dockers’ section of the Dock Workers’ Union held a
mass meeting on Sunday, and discussed the scheme for
pooling labour which has been designed for operation at
Swansea Docks. Considerable opposition to the scheme was
shown, more particularly with regard to the method of regis-
tration and (allocation; and the meeting decided unanimously
to give notice terminating the scheme.

The attention of Mr. Neville Chamberlain, who is calling
for registration of workers willing to undertake national
service, has been drawn to the large number of tin-platers
and others in the South Wales district who, although they
enrolled some time ago, have not yet been given work.
Apparently there is some difficulty -as between the different
departments of the Government; and Mr. I. Gwynne, secre-
tary of the Tin and Sheet Millmen’s Union, pointed out
this fact at a conference of employers and others which has
taken place in Swansea.

At a recent meeting of the Monmouthshire Eastern Valley
branch of the South Wales Miners’ Federation, permission
was given to the workmen employed -at the Varteg Collieries
to forward to the central executive council their application
for power to tender notices in view of the refusal of a
number of outside craftsmen to join the Miners’ Federation.

The Ebbw Vale steel workers expressed disappointment at
the fact of theiir deputation failing to secure an interview
with Mr. Hodge, the Minister for Labour, he having declined
to meet them until a statement of their case had been given
in writing. A report was made to the annual meeting of
the workmen’s side of the Sliding Scale Committee on
Saturday, when it was stated that the present position had
arisen in con-sequence of the last audit showing (advance of
4J per cent, in the selling prices, whilst only 2J per cent,
increase of w-ages was offered by the employers.. A long-
discussion took place, and it was decided that, unless some
satisfactory progress had been made within a week, “ the
question of further action ” should be dealt with.

The colliery workmen’s inspectors met in Cardiff on
Saturday, -and considered the question of co-operating with
the Federation, it being suggested that a joint committee
should consider what steps were necessary (to make the work
of mining safer. The members present discussed the classi-
fication of mines in respect of ventilation; also regulations
as to the standard of oil; and the present methods of con-
veying injured workmen from the collieries to their homes.

The executive council of the Colliery Enginemen and
Stokers’ Association held a meeting on Saturday, and con-
sidered the scale of pay which had been drafted for different
grades of men in the mechanical departments — all this
involving increase. The schedule which has been drawn up
is to be submitted to the next meeting of the Joint Board.

The executive council of the South Wales Federation met
in Cardiff on Saturday, and received the communication from
the Board of Trade with regard to the control of mines. Its
special point had relation to the financial position which will
be created; and the executive decided not to take any action
until after an interview with the Miners’ Federation of
Great Britain had arranged to have with the Government
Department.

Sir George Askwith, of the Board of Trade, communicated
with the Federation executive as to a dispute at the Tir-
donkin Colliery, proposing that it should be referred for
settlement to a tribunal, but the executive considered it was
not a matter which should be so decided, and therefore
instructed their secretary to communicate that fact to Sir
George Askwith.

North of England.

A dispute has occurred at No. 5 Colliery, Aspatria, and
between 200 and 300 men and boys became idle for a
time. The cause of the dispute is the unwilling-
ness of the men to accept new conditions of employment for
two banksmen. These conditions are said to be a reduction