| Date of Accident | Mine | County | Owner or Company | Name | Age | Occupation | Category | Cause of accident & remarks | Extra Details | District | ||
| 1906 | July | 2 | Dechmont No 2 | Lanark | Archd. Russell Ltd | Wm Dedrenski | 23 | Miner | Falls of roof | Fall of roof in working place. | West | |
| 1906 | July | 2 | Riddochhill | Linlithgow | Gavin Paul & Sons Ltd | James Forrest | 38 | Miner | Falls of side | Deceased and his son were engaged taking away a corner of coal from a pillar to enable a "cuddie" prop to be set, when a part suddenly burst off and crushed him ; a sprag which was up to the coal was thrown out by the falling coal. | East | |
| 1906 | July | 5 | Rosehall No12 | Lanark | R Addie & Sons Collieries Ltd | Patrick Ferris | 49 | Miner | Falls of side | A fall of stone from the brushing face slightly injured his knee. An operation was afterwards found necessary, but blood-poisoning resulted and he died in April, 1907. This accident was not reported to me. | ||
| 1906 | July | 6 | Mossbeath | Fife | Fife Coal Co Ltd | Daniel Costello | 15 | Filler | Other haulage accidents | Deceased's duties were to fill the tubs with coal and otherwise assist at the face; he had filled his tub, and left it at the face and sat down a short distance away to wait on the drawer coming inbye with an empty. While waiting a burst of coal took place off the face, which struck the loaded tub, causing it to move away, and the boy, thinking apparently to get out of harms way, from the falling coal, darted to the opposite side of the roadway and was struck by the tub as it passed. The road dipped 1 in 7 from the face, and it was quite evident the tub was neither spragged nor ranced properly. | East | |
| 1906 | July | 7 | Craigend | Fife | R Forrester & Co Ltd | Donald McPherson | 39 | pitheadman | Shaft accidents – falling into shaft from surface | When the descending cage left the surface, the gate which closed the opening stuck, and deceased allowed it to remain, leaving the side unprotected; when the ascending cage came to the surface he took off the loaded tub, and in bringing forward the empty tub he pushed it into the open side and fell into the shaft with the tub. | East | |
| 1906 | July | 12 | Whitehill No 2 | Ayr | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | John J Wallace | 14 | Drawer | Other haulage accidents | He pushed two full hutches over the brow of a self-acting incline after attaching the rope. The empty hutches either were not attached or became detached, and he was struck on the head by the hook on the end of the rope when it reached the top. | West | |
| 1906 | July | 16 | Wallyford | Edinburgh | Edinburgh Collieries Ltd | James Millar | 22 | Labourer | On surface – railways, sidings or tramways | In stocking coal on the "bing" an incline plane was in use, the loaded tub in descending pulling up the empty ; a loaded tub was ready to descend, and it was pushed away without the hook of the rope being attached, the result being that it ran away, and on reaching the bottom of incline it struck an electric pole, throwing it down, and in its fall it struck deceased. | East | |
| 1906 | July | 16 | Muiredge | Fife | Wemyss Coal Co Ltd | John Taylor | 19 | Drawer | Deaths not comprised under Mines Act | Deceased was leaving the horse lye with an empty tub when he was seized with a fit of coughing and fell forward on his knees, and shortly afterwards he died. At the " Inquiry " subsequently held, one doctor stated deceased's neck was broken, while another stated positively it was not. Deceased met no injury in the mine | East | |
| 1906 | July | 18 | Rosie | Fife | Wemyss Coal Co Ltd | David Henderson | 52 | Labourer | On surface – railways, sidings or tramways | Deceased was emptying dross from a waggon into the boiler fire-hole, and while doing so another workman allowed a waggon to come down towards the one in which he was, and, seeing that there was likely to be a collision, he jumped and fell across the rails, the waggons running over him. He died eight hours later. | East | |
| 1906 | July | 20 | Longriggend | Lanark | Nimmo & Co Ltd | James Penman | 56 | Miner | Falls of roof | While deceased was engaged taking off "cut" coal the roof suddenly fell upon him. | East | |
| 1906 | July | 20 | Craig | Ayr | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | Thos Burke Bell | 14 | Labourer | Shaft accidents – falling into shaft from surface | He opened the gate at the ground level and pushed an empty hutch into the shaft while the cage was not there, and fell after it | ||
| 1906 | July | 23 | Belhaven | Lanark | United Collieries Ltd | Lizzie Ralston | 19 | Coal cleaner | On surface – by machinery | While stepping across a revolving shaft deceased's clothing was caught and she was wound round and fatally crushed; the shaft was unfenced. | Newspaper report - Cambusnethan pages | East |
| 1906 | July | 26 | Bowhill | Fife | Bowhill Coal Co Ltd | George A Leitch | 14 | Drawer | Falls of roof | Some bars of long timber were placed across the tubs on a rake going up an incline, and when the tubs reached the top the ends struck some crowns, displacing them and causing the roof to fall upon deceased while he and others were about to unload the bars. | East | |
| 1906 | July | 31 | Newbattle | Edinburgh | Lothian Coal Co Ltd | James Tully | 56 | Trimmer | On surface – railways, sidings or tramways | Deceased left his work and crossed some lines of rails for some purpose, and while passing under the waggons on the through line a locomotive engine belonging to the North British Railway Company pushed a train against those standing, and they moved forward and ran over him. | ||
| 1906 | August | 1 | East Plean No 3 | Stirling | Plean Colliery Co Ltd | Jas McCallum | 17 | Labourer | On surface – miscellaneous | He appears to have stepped upon the top of dross in a hopper which was drawn off at the bottom. Apparently a cavity had formed at the bottom, and his weight caused the arch thereby formed to give way. He was drawn in and suffocated. | West | |
| 1906 | August | 3 | Blantyre | Lanark | Wm Dixon Ltd | John McKinlay | 72 | Gate keeper | On surface – miscellaneous | When standing at his post at a level crossing he was run into by a cyclist who lost control of his machine. |
A fatal accident, whereby a gatekeeper at a level crossing on
a branch railway was run into by a cyclist, gave rise to an interesting
case under the Workmen's Compensation Act, as showing how even
judges differ as to what constitutes a ''mine" with reference
to branch railways. The following is a newspaper report of the
case :— Court of Session – First Division - Tuesday, January 22, 1907. {Before the Lord-President, Lords McLaren, Kinnear, and Pearson) WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION CASE—DIVISION OF OPINION. The Division gave judgment in an appeal by way of a stated case in an arbitration before Sheriff-Substitute Thomson, under the Workmen's Compensation Act, in which Mrs. MacKinlay, widow of the late John MacKinlay, Douglas Cottage, Auchinraith, Blantyre, claimed damages from William Dixon (Limited), coalmasters, Blantyre, for the loss of her husband, who was fatally injured on August 3, 1906, while in the defenders' employment. The Sheriff-Substitute found that as an essential adjunct to the working of the collieries a private branch line of railway connects them with the main railway lines. The deceased was employed by the appellants as a gatekeeper at the gates which guard the branch railway at a point about 290 yards from the nearest of the collieries where the railway is crossed by the public highway at the foot of the Sides Brae. While the deceased was leaning on one of the gates waiting for an engine and waggon to pass on, a cyclist, who, on account of the steepness of the brae, had lost control of his bicycle, dashed into the gate with such violence that the deceased was thrown back upon the engine and waggons and was killed. The Sheriff-Substitute found for the pursuer, and awarded her £150 compensation. The questions of law for the opinion of the Court were :—(1) Was the place where the accident occurred on, in, or about a mine within the meaning of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1897, and (2) Did the accident arise out of, and in the course of, the deceased's employment within the meaning of the Act ? The Court answered both questions in the affirmative. Lord Pearson said he had no doubt that the accident arose out of and in the course of the deceased's employment as gatekeeper, as what happened was one of the risks incidental to the employment. His Lordship should have had difficulty on the other point in sustaining the respondents' -contention that the accident happened in or about a mine, but that Section 7 of the Act provided that a "mine" meant a mine to which the Coal Mines Regulation Act applied. In that Act a mine included tramways and sidings adjacent to the mine. It was a question of construction whether that was imported into the Workmen's Compensation Act, and his Lordship thought it was. A mine included a siding provided it was adjacent to or belonged to the mine, and this branch railway fulfilled that condition. Lord Kinnear said the question was one of considerable difficulty. If it were open his Lordship was not certain that he should have been able to come to the same conclusion as in fact he had done with Lord Pearson, but he thought it was governed by the Second Division decision in Anderson v,. Lochgelly Iron Company. His difficulty was whether a branch railway of this kind was a railway to which the Coal Mines Regulation Act applied. It was decided by the case to which he had referred that it was such a siding—not only a siding in the sense of definition, but a siding to which the Coal Mines Regulation Act applied ; and the moment that was decided, then the question whether the particular line of rails in question was or was not a siding in the sense of the statute was a mere question of fact. It was decided as a question of fact by the Sheriff-Substitute, and he agreed with the Sheriff-Substitute. The Lord President had a clear opinion in the opposite sense to that .expressed by their Lordships. The Workmen's Compensation Act was not universal in its application, but was only applied to certain specified places. So far he understood their Lordships agreed with him—that was to say,. if there were nothing else they would not hold that the accident, which took place where the branch line crossed the public road, nearly a quarter of a mile from the mine, was an accident which happened in, on, or about a mine. But what their Lordships passed their judgment upon was upon the definition of a mine in the Coal Mines Regulation Act—a mine for the purpose of the Workmen's Compensation Act, meaning a mine to which the Coal Mines Regulation Act applied. It was perfectly true that a siding commonly denoted a branch railway, because it was being looked at from the point of view of the railway. The Act they had to refer to was not a railway Act, but the Coal Mines Regulation Act; and the first purpose of that Act was to apply various rules, all pointing in one direction—to the safety of the worker in the coal mine. It did not look upon the matter from the railway point of view at all. Railway connection between a coal pit and a railway was not a necessity,, and did not exist in many cases. In this case the railway line was not a siding adjacent to the mine, or had anything to do with the congeries of apparatus which were to be found at the pithead. It was a branch railway, and nothing else, for the traffic in minerals. His Lordship understood that Lord M'Laren agreed with him in the ordinary case. Inasmuch as the decision in the Second Division in Anderson's case was by a majority of one in a Court of three, he should have had this case reconsidered by a higher Court; but in view of the new Workmen's Compensation Act, which was passed a few weeks ago, the question for the future really became academic, because the phraseology was so-altered that this question would never arise. In these circumstances, it would not be fair to the litigant here to send the case to seven judges for the determination of an academic question. He recognised that the case was ruled by the case of Anderson, in regard to which his Lordship said he agreed in tne opinion of the Lord Justice-Clerk, who formed the minority. Lord M'Laren agreed with his Lordship in the chair. Counsel for Appellants—Mr. Wilson, K.C., and Mr. Strain. Agents - W. and J. Burness, W.S. Counsel for Respondent—Mr. Orr, K.C., and Mr. Moncrieff. Agents - Simpson and Marwick, W.S. |
West |
| 1906 | August | 6 | Dalbeath | Fife | Fife Coal Co Ltd | Robert Bishop | 50 | Miner | Other haulage accidents | A dock haulage endless rope system had just started, and the son of deceased, by some means, was caught by the rope and drawn towards the wheel at the inbye end, and deceased went to release his son and his leg was caught and crushed apparently by the revolving wheel ; he died from his injury on 24th September. 1906. The wheel was under water and not sufficiently fenced. | East | |
| 1906 | August | 6 | Bothwell Castle No 1 | Lanark | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | Charles Russell | 24 | Painter | On surface – by machinery | He was crushed by the bell crank of the pumping engine, which was started while he was preparing to paint the logs on which it is set. | Happened to a painter who was painting the wood work about the pithead. The pumping engine stopped of its own accord, seeing which the deceased, without consulting any one, went below the bell crank to prepare to paint the wood work. The engine was re-started by a stoker, who was not aware that there was any one about the bell crank, and the result that the crank crushed the deceased. | West |
| 1906 | August | 7 | Cauldhame | Ayr | Arch. Finnie & Sons | Alexr Fulton | 27 | Fireman | Shaft accidents - falling from part way down | He fell 34 fathoms from a mid-working to the pit bottom. | Accidents from falling down the shaft from mid-workings are now comparatively of rare occurrence and happen very seldom indeed in cases in which the Special Rules relating to mid-workings are observed. One man lost his life from this cause during the year. The deceased, instead of asking the bottomer to signal for the cage for him to ascend, did this himself. The cage was raised to the mid-working, but he opened the wrong gate, and not noticing his mistake stepped into the open shaft and fell to the bottom. In this case there was a gate for each cage, but they were both connected by one wire to one indicator in the engine-house. Consequently the engineman could not know, as he ought, which gate was opened. | West |
| 1906 | August | 8 | Candlerigg-Broomfield No 4 | Lanark | James Nimmo & Co Ltd | Robert Elder | 28 | Joiner | On surface – miscellaneous | Explosion of gelignite and gunpowder in a bothy. It was said to have been caused by the bursting of an old electric incandescent lamp which they were testing. | Caused the death of an overman and other two men, while another man was injured. Robert Elder, who had charge of the explosives, in coming from the magazine found an old electric lamp in a heap of manure and took it into the office along with a box containing 27 lbs of compressed gunpowder and two and a-half lbs of gelignite. It is stated that he and the overman took off the lamp in use and substituted for it the lamp which the former had found, and when the current was switched on the lamp burst, and apparently a piece of fused glass or wire falling into the box of explosives placed beneath the lamp caused the contents to explode. The four men present were all injured, and only one of them survived. | West |
| Samuel Leckie | 31 | overman | ||||||||||
| William Earle | 27 | Engineman | ||||||||||
| 1906 | August | 9 | Lanemark Colliery, Rigfoot pit | Ayr | Lanemark Coal Co Ltd | Archd Haddow | 41 | Chain runner | Haulage – run over or crushed by trams & tubs | A race of full hutches, which he was taking out of a lye to go up a dook, went off the rails and crushed him against the side of the road. | West | |
| 1906 | August | 11 | Wemyss Colliery private railway | Fife | Wemyss Coal Co Ltd | Frank Robertson | 27 | Hutch mender | Deaths not comprised under Mines Act | While proceeding along the railway to his home in a state of intoxication he was run over by a train of waggons. | East | |
| 1906 | August | 13 | Swinhill No 2 | Lanark | Darngavil Coal Co Ltd | Jamieson Frame | 22 | Miner | Falls of roof | Fall of roof in working place where coal cutting machine was used. The fall crushed out the props. | West | |
| 1906 | August | 13 | Hamilton Palace | Lanark | Bent Colliery Co Ltd | Edward McCormack | 29 | Miner | Falls of side | Fall of coal. | West | |
| 1906 | August | 15 | Dumbreck No 2 | Stirling | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | William Ross | 16 | Bencher | Haulage – run over or crushed by trams & tubs | When attaching hutches on a dook to the haulage rope a full hutch slipped free from the jigger, ran back and struck another hutch which in turn struck him. | West | |
| 1906 | August | 17 | Gilbertfield No 1 | Lanark | United Collieries Ltd | John Campbell | 42 | Contractor | Shaft accidents – whilst ascending or descending by machinery | While descending the shaft, in some unexplained manner he got crushed by the cage | West | |
| 1906 | August | 20 | Denbeath | Fife | Wemyss Coal Co Ltd | John Birrell | 59 | shaftsman | Shaft accidents - falling from part way down | Deceased was employed with others enlarging a shaft from the bottom upwards, and while standing on a platform consisting of two planks fixing buntens he fell a distance of 14 feet, injuring his head, and subsequently died from the injury. | East | |
| 1906 | August | 22 | Milnwood | Lanark | Coltness Iron Co Ltd | Lewis Dillon | 26 | Pony Driver | Haulage – run over or crushed by trams & tubs | When walking between his pony and the front hutch of a ''race " a crown fell from the roof and he was crushed between it and the hutch. | West | |
| 1906 | August | 23 | Fordell | Fife | Countess of Buckinghamshire | John Lawson | 45 | Brusher | Falls of roof | Deceased was engaged with others in brushing a hard rock roof on a haulage road ; the rock was overhanging and unsupported and part fell and killed him. | East | |
| 1906 | August | 25 | Cadzow No 1 | Lanark | Cadzow Coal Co Ltd | Robert Easton | 29 | Roadsman | Shaft accidents – falling into shaft from surface | The engineman raised the cage a few feet above the pithead, seeing which Easton jumped off, but fell back and down the shaft. | West | |
| 1906 | August | 27 | Douglas Park No 1 | Lanark | Wilson's & Clyde Coal Co Ltd | James Graham | 54 | Miner | Falls of roof | Fall of roof in working place. | West | |
| 1906 | August | 28 | Lassodie | Fife | Thos Spowart & Co Ltd | Robert Hoey | 60 | Repairer | Falls of roof | Deceased and another workman were engaged making repairs on a heading road, when the roof suddenly collapsed and he was completely buried. | Newspaper report - Beath pages | East |
| 1906 | August | 29 | Cowdenbeath No 10 | Fife | Fife Coal Co Ltd | Robert Muir | 33 | Miner | Falls of roof | Deceased drove a narrow place through on the waste to ascertain the thickness of coal and also to obtain from the waste material for which to build the places, and while engaged afterwards near the entrance to the opening the roof fell right along the narrow place, and he was killed instantaneously. | East | |
| 1906 | September | 2 | Houldsworth | Ayr | Dalmellington Iron Co Ltd | Jas McDermont | 62 | Miner | Shaft accidents – whilst ascending or descending by machinery | While being lowered with other 13 men in the cage, the engineman lost control of his engine. The valve gearing being reversed, the cage on landing in the bottom was at once raised 13 feet. Scott was crushed between the cage and a beam at the doorheads, and McDermott was also either similarly crushed or fell out The oversman who was on the cage was injured. | By an accident at Houldsworth Colliery two men were killed and another was injured. The shaft is 205 fathoms deep, and on the morning of the accident 15 men were being lowered to their work in the "rise" cage. The following is the engineman's statement:—"I had let down most of the men before the accident happened. In lowering men against an empty ascending cage I use steam for the first 30 fathoms. The cages then run to about the meeting point without steam, but with the foot-brake applied. I then reverse the link motion and use steam to assist the brake. On this occasion the steam acted all right as a brake until the cage got within 8 fathoms, or a stroke of the engines, of the bottom, when I noticed that the steam did not seem to enter the cylinders and check the speed. I had also a difficulty in opening further the steam valve. Just as the cage would reach the pit bottom I applied the steam brake and the cage stopped. The moment the engine stopped it started in the reverse direction, as the link motion was reversed and steam was on, and the rise cage would be raised 2 fathoms before I shut off steam and stopped the engine. The boilers sometimes prime, and I think water in the steam pipe prevented the engine from working properly." The cage was not damaged, and most of the men in it were not injured. One of the deceased and the injured man (the overman) were found in the cage seat, and the other man, who was killed, was found hanging over one end of the cage, having evidently been crushed by a beam when the cage was raised. Apparently the sudden raising of the cage from the cage seat was the cause of the accident. There was no evidence to support the engineman's statement that the priming of the boilers caused him to lose control of his engine. | West |
| John Scott | 22 | Drawer | ||||||||||
| 1906 | September | 6 | Blantyre No 4 | Lanark | Wm Dixon Ltd | William Paton | 16 | Miner | Falls of roof | Fall of roof in working place. | West | |
| 1906 | September | 7 | Lanemark No 2 | Ayr | Lanemark Coal Co Ltd | James Nimmo | 24 | Chain runner | Haulage – run over or crushed by trams & tubs | In some unexplained manner he fell off a “race” being drawn up a dook and was run over by the hutches. The roof was too low to permit riding on the hutches with safety, and I suspect he was in the first instance caught by the low roof. | West | |
| 1906 | September | 14 | Dysart | Fife | Earl of Rosslyn's Collieries Ltd | Henry Allan | 38 | Labourer | Shaft accidents – falling into shaft from surface | The “cleek” had been standing for a short time and a signal to raise the men was given from the bottom. As the cage at the surface was loaded it was necessary in order to comply with the Special Rules that the descending cage should be empty, and accordingly deceased after giving a signal to the engineman,stepped on to the cage to take off the empty tub, when the cage descended and he fell into the shaft. The evidence at the “Inquiry” was very conflicting, but it appeared the engineman was at fault. | East | |
| 1906 | September | 14 | Elphinstone | Haddington | R & J Durie Ltd | James Rutherford | 17 | Drawer | Falls of side | Deceased was filling coal into a tub, when a stone in centre of seam suddenly burst off the face and killed him. | East | |
| 1906 | September | 17 | Carnock No 1 | Ayr | Alloa Coal Co Ltd | Jas McIlvenney | 35 | Miner | Miscellaneous underground – by explosives | After lighting the fuse of a gunpowder shot, he retired, but returned before it went off. It is thought that he was under the impression that a shot fired in an adjoining place was his, and he returned, when his own shot went off on him. | West | |
| 1906 | September | 18 | Minto | Fife | Lochgelly Iron & Coal Co Ltd | John McEwan | 16 | Drawer | Falls of roof | Deceased was filling coal into a tub, which had been holed the previous shift, by a coal-cutting machine, when a fall of roof took place and he was killed. | East | |
| 1906 | September | 21 | Nellie | Fife | Lochgelly Iron & Coal Co Ltd | James Henderson | 32 | Miner | Falls of roof | A roadway was being driven to work the coal to the rise of two large faults, and while deceased was taking off coal to widen the road a huge stone fell, killing him instantaneously. | East | |
| 1906 | September | 21 | Cameron | Fife | Wemyss Coal Co Ltd | George Morgan | 26 | Miner | Deaths not comprised under Mines Act | Deceased got the forefinger of his right hand scratched in some way and blood-poisoning set in, from which he died. It was stated he received the scratch while picking the coal off the face, but it was not possible from the position of the scratch. | East | |
| 1906 | September | 23 | D'Arcy Limeworks | Edinburgh | Lothian Coal Co Ltd | John Muirhead | 13 | Schoolboy | Deaths not comprised under Mines Act | This boy and some companions were amusing themselves on a Sunday by running tubs on the haulageway between the mine and kilns ; the tub ran away with them, and leaving the rails they were thrown out and deceased alighted on his head. | East | |
| 1906 | September | 24 | Dumbreck No 2 | Stirling | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | Thos O'Connor | 45 | Miner | Explosions of fire damp or coal dust | Apparently the " working " of the roof caused an emission of fire-damp, and it ignited at his naked light. Another man was injured. | The other fatal explosion occurred in Dumbreck No. 2 Pit, Stirlingshire. The roof began to "work" in the working place of two miners and they retired, and after waiting a few minutes they returned, when one of their naked lights ignited gas, which the breaking of the roof had released. They were both injured by the explosion, and one of them succumbed to his injuries. | West |
| 1906 | September | 24 | Stane | Lanark | Kepplehill Coal Co Ltd | Henry Boyle | 46 | Fireman | Deaths not comprised under Mines Act | Deceased and another were doing some repairs on a level road, and while preparing to put up a set of timbers a crown above him fell and injured him. He met his injury on 12th .September, 1905. | East | |
| 1906 | September | 25 | Callendar | Stirling | Callendar Coal Co Ltd | Daniel O'Donnall | 28 | Miner | Falls of roof | Deceased was engaged cutting out a place in the coal for starting a disc coal-cutting machine in a bad roof; he fired a shot, which threw out a prop, and while he was re-setting the prop the roof fell and injured him; he died on 28th October, 1906, | East | |
| 1906 | September | 26 | Dalmeny (Oil shale) | Linlithgow | Dalmeny Oil Co Ltd | Patrick Kane | 21 | Drawer | Falls of side | Deceased was going outbye with a loaded tub, when a piece of shale fell away from the side, and striking him, caused injuries to which he succumbed about three hours later. | East | |
| 1906 | October | 4 | Blackhill No 9 (ironstone) | Lanark | Summerlee Iron Co Ltd | David Taylor | 40 | Repairer | Miscellaneous underground – sundries | When taking a coal cutting machine off a bogie it slipped and crushed him, the chain holding it having become detached. | West | |
| 1906 | October | 4 | Broxburn (Oil shale) | Linlithgow | Broxburn Oil Co Ltd | George Shanks | 32 | Miner | Miscellaneous underground – by explosives | Deceased was found 16 feet from his working place injured on the head by being struck with flying shale from a shot. The shot was in the bottom portion of the seam, and was charged with 1 lb. of gunpowder, and it appeared deceased had been delayed after the fuse was lit and failed to reach a place of safety when the shot exploded. His lamp was found near the shot, which indicated that probably the light had been extinguished by the spitting of the fuse, and he had dropped it and put off some time searching for it. | East | |
| 1906 | October | 4 | Carberry | Edinburgh | Edinburgh Collieries Co Ltd | John Horner | 17 | Drawer | Shaft accidents -things falling from part way down | The shaft is 137 fathoms deep, and at 75 fathoms from the surface is a steam pump in the dip side, and for expansion a copper pipe was placed some distance above. While the men were descending to their work in the morning an unusual noise was heard in the shaft, and the oversman, thinking a joint had blown, signalled to the surface to cut off the steam, after which the men were again allowed to descend. The dip cage was loaded with seven persons, and while it was descending it came into contact with something and shortly after a piece of wood followed, and a splinter struck deceased, penetrating the skull by the eye, from the effects of which he died next day. It was afterwards discovered that the expansion pipe had burst and the force of the steam had displaced a brattice deal opposite, which the cage caught in passing. Had the oversman made an inspection of the shaft after the explosion before he allowed the men to descend he would have discovered the loose deal. | Accidents was caused in rather a peculiar way. While the men were descending for the morning shift, a noise was heard in the shaft, and as steam pipes were in the dip side to work a pump, it was thought that the noise was occasioned by a blown joint, and winding was suspended until the steam was cut off at the surface ; when this had been accomplished the dip cage was loaded with men and began to descend, and when about 72 fathoms down the cage met, and apparently passed, an obstruction, and something fell after the cage, and in passing came into the cage, striking a lad, causing injuries to his face from which he died. An examination of the shaft afterwards showed that the noise was caused by an expansion pipe bursting, and the force of the steam had displaced a wooden deal for bratticing off a compartment for ventilation, and the cage in passing had forced it away from its position, and a splinter off the deal caused the injuries. | East |
| 1906 | October | 5 | Hopetoun | Linlithgow | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | And. Galbraith | 6 | Child | Deaths not comprised under Mines Act | The child crawled through the fence surrounding an old disused shaft and fell into it and was drowned in 11 fathoms of water. | East | |
| 1906 | October | 5 and 11 | North Motherwell | Lanark | Merry & Cunninghame Ltd | John Morton | 32 | Miner | Miscellaneous underground – sundries | While working at the face on the first date a splinter of coal flew from his pick into deceased's eye but he continued to work; again 6 days later the same thing happened, causing trouble on the brain from which he died three days later. | East | |
| 1906 | October | 8 | Bridgeness | Linlithgow | Bridgeness Coal Co | Robert Muir | 32 | Brusher | Falls of side | Deceased was engaged cutting a roadway through a waste, and was about to stamp a hole in the brushing for a shot when the roof fell. The stone fell away by a lype in front and a waste break on the side, a stay was placed against it and a prop under it, but both were thrown out when it fell. | East | |
| 1906 | October | 9 | Grangemouth | Stirling | Grangemouth Coal Co Ltd | David Laird | 28 | Attendant on coal cutting machine | Miscellaneous underground – by machinery | A coal cutting machine of the bar type, and driven by electricity, was put into a seam 23 ins. high, and deceased had charge of it. To turn the machine and allow the cutter to work in one direction it was being hauled along the face by its own power with the bar parallel to the face and revolving, and by some means deceased's shirt was caught by the picks on the bar and he was instantly disembowelled. | East | |
| 1906 | October | 17 | Minto | Fife | Lochgelly Iron & Coal Co Ltd | Archibald Bowman | 26 | Railway fireman | On surface – railways, sidings or tramways | Deceased was engaged on shunting operations in the colliery sidings, and while putting down the brakes of the waggons he fell among the wheels, and the moving train passed over him. | East | |
| 1906 | October | 20 | Darngavil | Lanark | Darngavil Coal Co Ltd | Charles Waugh | 29 | Attendant on coal cutting machine | Miscellaneous underground – by machinery | A recess had been cut in the coal at the dip side of the run to begin cutting, and disc of coal cutter had been placed up to the coal; deceased who had charge, was next to the disc and gave instructions to two men assisting to push the machine forward when the electric current was put on, as soon as the machine started and the disc struck the coal it sprang back, and the picks caught his head inflicting terrible injuries. The haulage rope was not taut nor was the machine properly “skidded” and what happened was only what might be expected when the machine was to cut up hill. | East | |
| 1906 | October | 22 | Prestonlinks | Haddington | Forth Collieries Ltd | Edward Quirk | 29 | Hammerman | Deaths not comprised under Mines Act | Deceased was subject to epileptic fits and took one at his work and died. | East | |
| 1906 | October | 23 | Gilbertfield No 2 | Lanark | United Collieries Ltd | William Glen | 45 | Miner | Falls of roof | Fall of roof in working place. | West | |
| 1906 | October | 24 | Lochhead | Fife | Wemyss Coal Co Ltd | Johnstone Chalmers | 52 | Miner | Falls of side | Deceased was engaged taking out some old stoops, and he passed round the stoop side to take off some loose coal, when a mass of coal fell upon him. | East | |
| 1906 | October | 25 | Cranrigg Colliery, Broomfield No 4 | Lanark | James Nimmo & Co Ltd | Andrew McCormack | 32 | Miner | Shaft accidents – whilst ascending or descending by machinery | While ascending the shaft he got crushed between the cage and a beam at the pitmouth. He is supposed to have been stepping off by mistake at a low scaffold. | West | |
| 1906 | October | 27 | Auchinreoch No 1 | Stirling | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | Charles Wilson | 23 | Drawer | Haulage – run over or crushed by trams & tubs | While taking a full hutch down a heading he was run into by a runaway hutch, of which another drawer lost control, owing to a snibble coming out. | West | |
| 1906 | October | 31 | Tranent | Haddington | James Waldie & Sons | Thos Cuninghame | 10 | Schoolboy | Deaths not comprised under Mines Act | While the colliery locomotive was approaching the weighbridge with a train of loaded waggons the boy attempted to jump on a waggon of the moving train, and missing his hold fell on the rails and the last waggon wheels passed over him. | East | |
| 1906 | November | 2 | Lochside | Fife | Lochside Coal & Clay Co | George Ritchie | 35 | Miner | Falls of roof | The blaes in the openings of the old stoop and room workings is worked for the purpose of making bricks, and while deceased was shovelling, an overhanging piece of the blaes fell and fatally crushed him. The part did not seem to be sufficiently timbered. | East | |
| 1906 | November | 2 | Newton Mine (fire clay) | Renfrew | Robert Brown & Son Ltd | James Simpson | 28 | Miner | Miscellaneous underground – by explosives | He was firing two gunpowder shots, and thought he only lighted the fuse of one. On returning after one shot went off, the other went off on him. | West | |
| 1906 | November | 12 | Birkrigg | Lanark | Darngavil Coal Co Ltd | James Goodwin | 16 | Labourer | On surface – miscellaneous | Struck by a piece of iron projected by a shot of gelignite used to break up an old spur wheel. | West | |
| 1906 | November | 14 | Kingseat | Fife | John Irvine & Son | James Johnstone | 29 | Miner | Falls of roof | While deceased was at work at the face the roof suddenly fell and killed him. The roof was composed of strong sandstone and was full of breaks. | East | |
| 1906 | November | 15 | Polmaise No 4 | Stirling | Archd. Russell Ltd | Hugh Jackson | 40 | Brusher | Falls of side | He fired two shots in a road which he was enlarging, and, on returning, a stone from the side fell on him. | West | |
| 1906 | November | 16 | Lumphinnans | Fife | Fife Coal Co Ltd | Andrew Clark | 36 | Sinker | Shaft accidents - falling from part way down | The shaft was being enlarged and deceased was on a suspended platform 10 fathoms up helping to fix a bunton when he overbalanced and fell to the bottom. | East | |
| 1906 | November | 19 | Newbattle | Edinburgh | Lothian Coal Co Ltd | John Smith | 69 | Pumper | Deaths not comprised under Mines Act | Owing to repairs in the shaft deceased was unable to descend and went to go to work a pump, of which he had charge, by an in-going-eye from the surface ; he did not get to the pump, and was missed for a day and search was made, when he was found at the entrance to the in-going-eye quite dead ; his death was due to natural causes. | East | |
| 1906 | November | 21 | Clydeside | Lanark | United Collieries Ltd | Thos O'Neil | 47 | Miner | Falls of side | Fall from the side of a road while sitting taking his breakfast | West | |
| 1906 | November | 29 | Garriongill | Lanark | Coltness Iron Co Ltd | John McPherson | 48 | Miner | Falls of roof | Deceased was taking off coal at the face when a stone fell from the roof, and fatally crushed him. On the left-hand side was a visible "lype," and the stone fell away from this, and one inside which was invisible. | East | |
| 1906 | November | 29 | Arniston | Edinburgh | Arniston Coal Co Ltd | James Aitken | 37 | Miner | Haulage – run over or crushed by trams & tubs | The workings are to the dip and very steep, and the men are taken to and from their work in carriages at stated hours. A number of the men had congregated at the 400 fathoms level at the end of the fore-shift waiting for the carriages by which to ascend to the shaft bottom. Just as the last rake of loaded tubs left many of them went to the dook road, against orders and lined up on each side to be ready to take their places in the carriages on arrival; the rake had only gone 20 yards up when the drawbar of the second tub broke, and eight tubs came back and crashed into the side near the level, and deceased, who was close by, was fatally injured. The drawbar was 2 feet 7 inches long by 2 1/2 inches by 3/4 inches, and made of mild steel; the break was at the bend of the hook, and had no sign of a previous fracture. | Newspaper report | East |
| 1906 | December | 3 | Kilgrammie | Ayr | David Robertson | David Shields | 40 | Miner | Haulage – run over or crushed by trams & tubs | While being lowered with other six men in a "race" of four hutches down a dip mine three hutches got uncoupled and ran down the incline. Other three men were injured. | West | |
| 1906 | December | 7 | Northfield | Haddington | Northfield Coal Co Ltd | Bernard Hoggan | 33 | Miner | Miscellaneous underground – irruptions of water | See report |
The second inrush took place at Northfield
Colliery, Prestonpans, in the workings of the Jewel Coal
seam. A slope dook was driven in the seam and stopped on a hitch in July, 1905, and in the interval it naturally filled with water. Operations were pushed on further to the dip, levels driven and places run to the rise in the direction of the slope dook. The same hitch met with in the slope dook was struck in the level B, where deceased worked, and they were instructed to work to the rise in the same direction as the line of the hitch, and while Hoggan was apparently holing at the face the water burst out the coal, which struck him, and he was borne along with the force to C, where he was afterwards found. Toban, who with another drawer, was filling a, tub with coal at B, got into the flood and was carried right to the main dook and was drowned. The men who worked in the level D and upset, had great difficulty in reaching a place of safety, and to get to level road above had to keep close by the left side of stoop. The manager and officials were aware of the water in the slope dook, and the former was of opinion the quantity was not dangerous, and did not put the provisions of General Rule 13 into force. At the Fatal Accidents Inquiry held subsequently the manager stated that having met with an injury he was unable to go underground for ten days prior to the accident to superintend operations. This did not appear to me to be a valid reason for the non-compliance of the rule, as a narrow place with bores should have been begun weeks before. A calculation of the cubic space occupied by the water in the main dook after the burst showed that quantity of water was about 54,000 gallons, and that it filled the slope dook for a distance of 105 feet, giving a statical pressure of 8.3 lbs per square inch. The total pressure, on the piece of coal displaced and which struck Hoggan, was fully four tons. Proceedings were taken against the manager for a contravention of General Rule 13, and he was convicted, but the Sheriff let him off with an admonition. |
East |
| Thomas Toban | 21 | Miner | ||||||||||
| 1906 | December | 10 | Wallyford | Edinburgh | Edinburgh Collieries Co Ltd | William McKinlay | 23 | Miner | Falls of side | Deceased was holing in the bottom coal, when the head coal suddenly burst and a part fell upon him. | East | |
| 1906 | December | 10 | Hamilton Palace No 1 | Lanark | Bent Colliery Co Ltd | Adam Cummings | 34 | Miner | Falls of roof | Fall of roof in working place when finishing taking out a stoop. The fall crushed put the props. Another man was injured | West | |
| 1906 | December | 11 | Gilbertfield | Lanark | United Collieries Ltd | Thos Scobbie | 21 | Engineer | On surface – by machinery | While inside a dross conveyor, repairing it, the engine was started and he got caught. | The third fatal machinery accident resulted in the death of the manager's son, who, with his father and others, was engaged repairing a dross conveyor. They were inside the conveyor when the engine started. The others escaped, but the deceased was caught and carried over the driving drum. Owing to the thread of the spindle of the steam stop valve having become "stripped," the valve could only be kept closed by jamming a piece of wood between the wall of the engine house and the valve spindle, and it seems that this piece of wood was accidentally knocked away by a boy, with the result that the engine started. | West |
| 1906 | December | 11 | Shotts | Lanark | Shotts Iron Co Ltd | Duncan Russell | 31 | Contractor drawer | Haulage – run over or crushed by trams & tubs | The system of haulage is endless rope, speed 2 1/2 miles an hour. The tubs are conveyed in rakes of ten with a bogie in front, and rope is attached by means of a gripper or "shears." The haulage road is 1,400 yards long and worked by bogie boys between the mid bye and the shaft, a distance of 1,200 yards, and from the mid bye deceased bogied the tubs to and from the inside or inbye lye. When the rake had not reached the mid lye, his custom was to go on with his loaded rake until he met the incoming rake and a transference took place. On the occasion on which the accident occurred he met a bogie boy 700 yards outbye from the mid lye, and, as usual, handed over his rake to the boy to proceed to the shaft, while he took the empty rake toward the inside. About 15 minutes afterwards another bogie boy was proceeding inbye with an empty rake when his bogie collided with the rear of a rake in front, and deceased shouted for help ; he was found on the opposite line of rails under the tubs, and the bogie was partly over to the empty side and free of the rope ; his injuries were serious and he succumbed three days later. The accident was due to the rake having run amain and some of the tubs left the rails, and at a lower part of the pavement than usual the bogie and tubs were thrown to the opposite side, and deceased was pitched out;. the track of a derailed truck was discovered for 150 yards. The plane is undulating and for 300 yards dips inbye 1 in 14, and it appears deceased released the rope from the "shears" and allowed the rake to run free inbye. | East | |
| 1906 | December | 12 | Rosie | Fife | Wemyss Coal Co Ltd | William McLean | 46 | Miner | Other haulage accidents | Deceased was lifting a loaded tub which had left the rails, and in doing so he slipped and fell, injuring his side. He continued to work at irregular intervals for some time afterwards, but eventually became very ill, and died on 10th August, 1907. | ||
| 1906 | December | 13 | East Plean No 4 | Stirling | Plean Colliery Co Ltd | John Coyle | 22 | Labourer | On surface – railways, sidings or tramways | While jointing water pipes in a track crossing the siding he was run over by eight full waggons propelled past the screes by a Caledonian Railway Company's locomotive. |
Three fatal accidents were caused by waggons while being shunted
by the Caledonian Railway Company's workmen. At least one of
these, that at East Plean No. 4 Pit, ought not to have happened
if ordinary care had been observed by the Railway Company's servants.
The deceased was laying a water pipe in a track crossing the
rails close to the screes, where the machinery makes a good deal
of noise. After marshalling eight loaded waggons, the locomotive
driver, after sounding his whistle, proceeded to propel them
past where the deceased was working in the pipe track. Instead
of one man being in front while passing the screes to see that
the road was clear, the two guards were on the engine along with
the driver and the stoker, and the consequence was that the deceased
was run over, he having apparently failed to hear the whistle
on account of the noise of the screes, or to see the waggons
approach. Proper regulations with a view to prevent accidents and applicable to railway company servants while shunting on mine premises are very much required. The ordinary printed railway regulations in force are not sufficient for the purpose. With the increased use of noisy machinery at the pithead, there is greater danger of accidents by moving waggons to men at work about the screes. It would tend to prevent such accidents if a steam whistle, which all could hear, were to be blown before any waggon was moved at the screes or brought forward to them, and if waggons were not brought forward unless some one went in front to see that the road was clear. |
West |
| 1906 | December | 14 | Newbattle | Edinburgh | Lothian Coal Co Ltd | William Gardner | 55 | Locomotive driver | On surface – railways, sidings or tramways | Deceased was on the colliery engine moving a train of loaded waggons across the weighbridge, when an engine and van belonging to the North British Railway Company came in to lift a train load of waggons for shipment, which stood on another line; by a mistake the wrong points were opened and this engine crashed into the colliery engine and crushed deceased so seriously that he died 30 minutes later. The points were opened by a railway inspector, who was not empowered to do so. | Three of the persons killed were men who were well acquainted in the duties of working among waggons. One case was of a particularly sad nature, the colliery locomotive was moving a train of loaded waggons across the weighbridge, when a locomotive belonging to the railway company crashed into it and the driver was fatally injured, the latter by a mistake on the part of a railway official had been shunted into the wrong road. | East |
| 1906 | December | 20 | Dalzell & Broomside | Lanark | Wishaw Coal Co Ltd | Robert McMillan | 21 | Coal-cutter machine man | Haulage – run over or crushed by trams & tubs | Deceased had worked a double shift, and when he arrived at the mine bottom, after his work was over, the oversman was sitting on the first tub of the loaded haulage rake to be raised to the surface ; he asked and obtained permission to ride with him, and while the rake was moving up the plane his head came in contact with the roof at a low part and his spine was fractured, death ensuing 26 hours later. The mine starts from the surface dipping 1 in 3 most of the way, and the system of haulage is by a rope on a drum, and while the loaded rake ascends the empty descends : speed about 4 miles an hour. | East | |
| 1906 | December | 20 | Wallyford | Edinburgh | Edinburgh Collieries Co Ltd | John McCutcheon | 16 | Drawer | Falls of side | Deceased and another drawer were proceeding to the top of an incline with a loaded tub, when it was stopped by some debris, and he was making his way round the tub to clear the obstruction, when a stone fell away from the high side and crushed him against the side of the tub. The stone came away at a part of the road where a "hitch" was crossed. | East | |
| 1906 | December | 21 | Simpsonland No 2 | Lanark | United Collieries Ltd | James McGinty | 39 | Roadsman | Falls of side | While descending the shaft, after repairing some defect, the barring gave way 12 fathoms them and some 50 tons of debris fell from the side of the shaft upon the cage. | Took place in the shaft of Simpsonland No. 2 Pit, Lanarkshire, and by it the manager, the overman, and a roadsman lost their lives. It appears that when the dip cage containing two empty hutches was being lowered it stuck about 6 fathoms above the main coal bottom, and after being released by two of the deceased climbing up the shaft, they spent some 45 minutes in putting right the defect, but what the defect was does not seem to be known. In response to a signal, the engineman was slowly lowering the cage, when the side of the shaft collapsed and broke the barring some 6 or 7 fathoms above the cage. The consequence was that the falling mass of debris struck the cage and broke the rope. The bodies of the deceased were afterwards found in the cage seat beneath the cage. Apparently the pressure behind the 4-inch barring first broke the buntons, and then the barring itself gave way. Newspaper Report - Hamilton pages | West |
| Andrew Maxwell | 60 | overman | ||||||||||
| Robert Gardiner | 49 | Manager | ||||||||||
| 1906 | December | 24 | Glencraig | Fife | Wilson's & Clyde Coal Co Ltd | David Brown | 44 | Labourer | Deaths not comprised under Mines Act | Deceased began his work as usual at 6 a.m. and marshalled several tubs of debris for the pony to haul to the redd bing : shortly after he was discovered quite dead, death being due to heart failure. | Newspaper report - Ballingry pages | East |
| 1906 | December | 24 | Hawkhill | Fife | Kincardine Coal Co Ltd | David Hunter | 40 | Miner | Miscellaneous underground – sundries | Report, page 19. |
This accident occurred at Hawkhill Colliery, Fife. The machine in use was a disc worked with a voltage of 450 and continuous current of electricity. The height of the working was 2 feet 9 inches to 3 feet and across the run of 190 yards the face was wet from roof and floor. Owing to the nature of the seam difficulty was experienced in keeping the faces in a straight line, and a man was employed to go in front and take off projections of coal to allow the machine a free and uninterrupted run. On the night of the accident the machine was cutting as usual and deceased was in front about 30 yards from the machine taking off a "nose" of coal, and another man was close by boring holes for blasting down the coal when suddenly the machine became alive and the electric current ran along the haulage rope, and deceased, who apparently was sitting on a part of it, was "shocked" and thrown across both parts of the rope, while the man beside also received a shock but was thrown toward the face clear of the rope ; he at once called the attention of the man in charge of the machine to switch off, and in attempting to do so he was thrown down, and the current remained on until one of the men ran to the latch box and cut it off. Deceased was then removed to a convenient place, and artificial respiration applied for about two hours, but he did not recover ; the body of deceased was wet owing to the water from roof and on floor. An examination of the machine was afterwards made, and it was discovered that the cable going through the machine casing to the field magnet coil was bare inside the bushing and had come in contact with the metal of the casing causing the machine to become alive, and all the parts connected as well. The cable was insulated in the usual way and was inside rubber tubing, right to the inside of the casing of the machine: it passed through the casing by a brass bush and small rubber ring screwed tightly up, apparently the cable had received rough usage to cause it to be bared in the inside of the casing. |
East |
| 1906 | December | 25 | Broomrigg No 3 | Stirling | Banknock Colliery Co Ltd | John Howden | 60 | Miner | Falls of roof | Fall of roof in working place, which was not propped as required by the rules. | West | |
| 1906 | December | 25 | Milburn | Lanark | Archd. Russell Ltd | Robert Dewar | 35 | Miner | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at working face. | West | |
| 1906 | December | 28 | Benarty | Fife | Fife Coal Co Ltd | Michael Thomson | 38 | Miner | Other haulage accidents | A brae wheel was fixed and when it was put into operation it stuck, deceased went to release it and met with an accident. He died on 24th April, 1907. | ||
| 1906 | December | 28 | Blantyre No 1 | Lanark | Wm Dixon Ltd | Bernard Mulligan | 25 | Brusher | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at brushing face while putting in a building. | West | |
