Flame as an Early Fire Detector in Mines

This was clipped from the 1965 training film, Magic of Fire (23 minutes), produced by the US Bureau of Mines. By the early nineteenth century it had become known that firedamp became explosive when the flammable gas concentration was between approximately 5 and 15% by volume. On 25 May 1812 an explosion occurred at Felling Colliery, near Gateshead-on-Tyne, killing ninety-two men and boys. Reports of the circumstances behind this accident had such an impact on a London barrister published proposals for the formation of a society to consider ways of preventing such incidents. Called the Sunderland Society its first meeting was held on 1 October 1813. The main result of their deliberations was the invention by Sir Humphrey Davy, working under their auspices, of his now famous flame safety lamp. Despite the introduction of flame safety lamps into coal mines, explosions of firedamp remained a significant problem. Although no formal accident statistics were collected at the time, the number occurring seemingly continued along a rising trend that had been apparent before the Sunderland Society began its deliberations. Responding to this, in 1834 a petition was introduced before Parliament requesting that action be taken to do something about the situation. In response the House of Commons set up a Select Committee to study the occurrence of accidents in coal mines. Over the next four years it is probable that over three hundred coal miners died in explosions. Despite this, still no official action was taken in an attempt to prevent such from occurring. In June 1839 fifty-two men and boys were killed in an explosion at St Hilda Colliery, County Durham. A member of the local community was so moved that he suggested that a committee be formed to study the prevention of accidents in coal mines. The group was called the South Shields Committee. As a review of coal mining practices and safety, the report subsequently produced must be seen as a classic. Unlike any of the earlier reports into coal mine accidents, that of the South Shields Committee included a detailed discussion of how scientific instruments could be used to improve safety. The first Coal Mines Act was passed in 1850. This created a Mines Inspectorate with the power to enter any workings and advise the manager of any dangerous conditions found therein. It also required that all fatal accidents be reported to the Home Office within twenty-four hours of occurring. For the first time, this allowed an accurate assessment to be made of the causes of death amongst coal miners. This is taken from the 2007 paper, The Measurement of Air Flow in British Coal Mines: A Historical Review by I. D. Unwin, M. Phil, B.Sc., D.I.S., and available at: http://www.angelfire.com/mech/ians_coal_page/air_flow_2007.pdf

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Education

Tags:

• methane
• fire
• flame
• safety
• explosion
• hazard
• mine
• coal
• Davy
• lamp
• NIOSH
• MSHA
• Miners
• union
• workers
• inspection
• industrial
• hygiene
• hazwoper
• NIEHS