General
Rules & Special Rules at
Ivor
Brown, SCMC Journal No.5
Legislative control over activities at
The development of these Rules is outlined in the following and examples
are given of their enforcement in
A notable feature of mining law is its differences from general law, eg
the number of cases of infringement taken to court bears little resemblance to
the actual number since in most cases the offender (and in mining you are
guilty until proven innocent) is given the choice of being tried by the
management or by a Court of Law. This system was still in operation in
Development
The Coal Mines Inspection Act 1855 laid down that two separate sets of
Rules would apply to collieries, the General Rules to be carried out in every
mine under the Act and the Special Rules to be made "for each colliery by
the owners or agents thereof". General Rules included such matters as
provision of sufficient ventilation, properly constructed shafts, proper
signalling and indication arrangements for winding and that steam boilers
should have safety valves, water gauges and steam gauges.
The Special Rules were to be so framed as to suit the method of working,
the nature of the seams and character of the winding and other appliances used
at a particular colliery. In each coalfield the characteristics of the
collieries were so often much alike that Rules for a particular coalfield were
agreed by the major operators, although individual operators could still go it
alone. In any case, the Special Rules as made by the owners or agents had to
receive the approval of one of the principal Secretaries of State.
The Mines Inspection Act 1860 repealed the above although many of the
provisions were similar. The new provisions for the General Rules now included
aspects of fencing, safety lamp usage, overhead covers to protect persons in
shafts, disuse of single link winding chain and use of large flanges or horns
on winding drums (to prevent rope or 3-linked chain slipping off). The Special
Rules now had to be specific on signalling and details of method and places for
distribution of wages. The 1860 Act was also intended to apply to stratified
ironstone mines as well as collieries.
Example of General Rules & Special Rules
GENERAL RULES
AND
SPECIAL RULES
TO BE OBSERVED BY
THE OWNER, AGENT, UNDER-VIEWER,
DEPUTIES AND WORK-PEOPLE
OF
MR JOSEPH MARSLAND'S
PROVIDENCE COLLIERY
CLIFFE HILL,
WAKEFIELD, YORKSHIRE
PRINTED BY W. T. LAMB, STATIONER,
&c
17, Northgate
_
JULY 18TH 1856
PREFACE
THE Act of Parliament 18 and 19
The Act of Parliament, clause 11, enacts that every person employed in
or about a coal mine or colliery who neglects or wilfully violates any of the
special rules established for such coal mine or colliery, shall for every such
offence be liable to a penalty not exceeding two pounds, or to be imprisoned;
with or without hard labour, in the common gaol or house of correction for any
period not exceeding three calendar months or to be proceeded against and
punished according to the provision of the act Fourth George the Fourth,
chapter thirty-four, intituled 'An Act to enlarge the Power of Justices in
determining Complaints between Masters and Servants'.
The Act of Parliament also recites that the General and Special Rules
shall be painted on a board, or printed on paper, to be pasted thereon, and
shall be hung up or affixed on some conspicuous part of the principal office of
the colliery, and that they shall be renewed and restored as often as they or
any part of them become obliterated and destroyed; and that a copy of such
General and Special Rules shall be supplied to all persons in or about the
colliery; and the 13th clause of the said act recites that every person who
pulls down, injures or defaces any Notice hung up or affixed, as required by
this Act, shall for every such offence be liable to a penalty not exceeding
forty shillings.
The Metalliferous Mines Regulation Act 1872 proved to
be misleading, partly as it did not include most ironstone mines (which were
covered by the Coal Mines Regulation Act 1872), but was intended to cover also
such non-metals as limestone and slate. The provision of both these Acts with
regard to the Rules were similar but Special Rules were only compulsory for
mines under the Coal Mines Act. The Secretary of State, however, could decide
that they were necessary at a prescribed metalliferous mine.
Later Regulation Acts modified the earlier Acts. The Coal Mines
Regulation Act 1887 tightened up on the firing of shots, use of safety lamps
and the conditions of employment and included in total some 39 General Rules.
In addition, the Special Rules had to be brought up to date. The 1896 Act
amended the principal Act and added General Rules relating to the use of
tamping materials during shotfiring, the use of lamps and inspection of working
places and provides for the representation of the men in cases of arbitration
arising under the provisions of the Act.
By the first decade of the 20th century, the Code of Special Rules had
been agreed for each of the 24 Mining Districts in
Application
The annual reports of the Inspectors of Mines at this time usually give
the date when the individual mines adopted Special Rules. Occasionally single
copies are still found and these provide considerable information on the
operations of a particular mine or mines at the time they were produced. In
1908 the Royal Commission on Mines made a collection of the Codes of Rules in
force at that date. This collection was then published with the following
"prefatory note".
"This collection of the Codes of Rules in force in mines and
quarries in the
Extracts from Examples of Special Rules
3. The Owner, Agent or Manager shall appoint competent persons to
perform the several duties prescribed by the Act and Special Rules and shall
appoint an Overman at each pit or mine under his charge, to perform the duties
hereafter prescribed; such person shall not be a contractor, not employed by a
contractor. He may from time to time revoke all or any such appointments, and
shall immediately fill up the vacancy occasioned by such revocation, or by the
decease of any appointee.
6. Where pillars of clay are being removed, the Owner, Agent or Manager
shall keep posted up at the mine a notice specifying the maximum distance apart
at which props or other roof supports at the working faces are to be set, and
the persons setting props or other roof supports shall see that the maximum
distance is not exceeded.
15. He shall employ no boy under 12 years of age below ground, nor any
boy or girl under 13 years of age above ground; and before employing any girl
or woman on the surface, or any person under 16 years of age either above or
below ground, he shall report to the Owner, Agent or Manager that he is about
to employ such a person.
3. All persons who are casually employed underground (Masons,
Enginewrights and others) shall be amenable to the Act, and the Special Rules,
and shall make themselves acquainted with the same.
7. No person shall go to sleep whilst on duty or in the mine, and where
there is more than one shift, no person having charge of men, machinery,
signals or ventilating apparatus, shall leave work until relieved, unless
authorised by his superior officer.
12. No person shall ill-treat any animal which may be employed underground
or in connection with any mine.
13. No person shall come to or be at the mine in a state of
intoxication. Nor shall any person take any intoxicating drink into the pit,
nor drink it upon the works, except by permission of the Manager.
21. A Certificated Manager shall, where safety lamps are used, from time
to time, fix lamp stations at such points in the mine as he shall think fit,
not being in any return air-course, at which station lamps may be lighted and
re-lighted, and shall also fix a point in the mine or in the ventilating
district beyond which no light other than in a locked safety lamp shall ever be
taken. All such lamp stations shall be indicated by a board with the words
"Lamp Station" legibly inscribed thereon.
Foxdale Lead Mine
6. Every working place or travelling road in every part of the mine in
which persons are at work or along which they have to pass shall be visited at
least once every working day by the Owner or Agent or some competent person
appointed for the purpose, who shall satisfy himself that the place or road is
in a safe condition.
12. When rock-drills are used, the holes shall be kept wet to prevent
the atmosphere being charged with dust.
14. Shafts, winzes and underhand stopes, which have been abandoned or
disused for some time, shall not be entered until a burning light has been
lowered into them and the absence of foul air ascertained.
16. No unskilled or inexperienced person shall be allowed to work alone
upon any work attended with any special risk or danger, or to charge or fire
shots.
24. Unless specially permitted by the Owner or Agent, no person shall be
allowed about the mine after working hours or on Sunday.
Included amongst the 24 District-based Special Rules
for mines under the Coal Mines Act (which included stratified ironstone and
clay) are Shropshire, Shropshire Clay Mines, North Wales, Cannock Chase, North
and
The Codes for individual mines include Foxdale Lead Mine (Isle of Man),
Cocklakes Gypsum, Honister Slate and several for Cumberland Iron Ore Mines (no
Shropshire mines are included). As examples, shown in Figure 6 are the top
portions of the sheets of Rules for Shropshire Clay Mines, Shropshire Coal
Mines (which includes ironstone) and the Foxdale Lead Mine.
Enforcements
Either the Inspector (through the Secretary of State), the owners or the
managers could prosecute under the Special Rules. For example, in 1901 the
Madeley Wood Company's management prosecuted a dan-filler under Rule 71 for
"neglecting of a fireman's orders" with a fine of 2s 6d with 5s 6d
costs. The same dan-filler was also prosecuted under Rule 77 for not examining
his work place to ensure that it continued to be safe from gas, etc. He was
acquitted but ordered to pay 3s 6d costs. At this time, very few
After the district-wide adoption of Special Rules on 27th September
1902, the number of prosecutions increased. For example, in 1904 the Inspector
prosecuted the management of the Dunge Mine (Broseley) on three counts relating
to steam boilers and the Lilleshall Company prosecuted a holer under Rule 109
for having an unlocked safety lamp in the mine. In 1905, the Madeley Wood
Company prosecuted a horse driver for abusive language under Rule 2 and he was
fined 5s 0d with 10s 0d costs. It then took 17 horse drivers to Court under
Rule 68 for "absenting themselves from work". This was probably a
strike but most were fined 1s 9d with 6s 3d costs.
In 1907, the Inspector's Annual Report shows that some 58 mines of coal,
fireclay and ironstone in
An interesting situation seems to have occurred in 1912, the Inspector
prosecuted the manager of Billingsley Colliery under Rule 17 (failing to
appoint competent persons - fined £10) and the mine's owners in turn prosecuted
the night deputy under Rule 50 for "failing to examine all places under
his charge and failing to see all doors were closed and ventilation was taking
its proper course (fine and costs £1). Presumably something happened and there
is a story here! With the prosecutions that followed the adoption of Rules,
there must have been some effect on the behaviour of both
Example of Apology Note
NOTICE
Apology
I or We, the undersigned .............................
Colliers, hereby express our regret that on 1895, I or we committed a breach of
the (Special Rules established under the) Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1887, by
........................................ at ...................................
Pit, belonging to the................................ and I or we tender our
sincere apologies to the Owners or Company, to their Officials, and to our
fellow workmen for the same.
We further agree to pay the sum of .................... shillings to the
............................. as a proof of our penitence.
We also undertake in future to observe and to support to the best of our
abilities the requirements of the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1887, and the
Special Rules established thereunder.
Copies of this apology shall be printed and posted up at the Company's
Collieries as a warning to others that the Act and Special Rules will be
strictly enforced by the Authorities, with a view to the maintenance of proper
discipline and safety of the persons employed.
Witness our signature this .............................. day of
.....................1895.