South Yorkshire Times, August 25th, 1951
Shot Firing Mishap
Wath Man Fined £20
Resulting from a shot-firing accident in the South One district of Manvers Main Colliery, Wath-on-Dearne, on April 23rd, in which a miner in charge of gear head lost his right eye, and sustained serious injury to his left. Tom Jenkinson (48) former shot-firer, of 19, Nicholson Avenue, Wath-on-Dearne, was fined a total of £20 at Rotherham West Riding Court on Monday. Through his solicitor Mr. G. A. Bolsover, Jenkinson pleaded guilty to charges of being employed in a coal mine and failing to take suitable steps to prevent any person approaching before firing a shot; before a firing a shot did fail to see that all persons in the vicinity had taken proper shelter, failing to exam all contiguous access places within 20 yards from the shot; and omitting to do an act necessary for the safety of persons employed in the mine.
“Some Discipline”
Mr. A. S. Furniss, prosecuting for the National Coal Board, said that his instructions were to ask the Bench to assist the Coal Board in getting some discipline into such offences. A report had recently been issued in the area of carelessness by persons entrusted with such duties, either by custom, or treating carelessly matters with which they dealt frequently.
In the morning in question, Jenkinson and another shotfirer were working on a face which was divided between them. Mr. Hague, the other shotfirer had had a shot fired in one stint and had taken proper precautions. Jenkinson took over and had to fire a shot near to the roof in another stint. A man named Bailey and a youth were working at the gear head. Jenkinson had told Bailey that he was going to fire and Bailey replied that if he (Jenkinson) would let him (Bailey) know when the shot was to be fired, he would stop the belts. After a lapse of eight minutes, during which time a man named Smalley had engaged Bailey in conversation, a shot was fired without warning.
Got the Full Blast
At the time, Bailey was working on one knee and part of his body was protruding above the gear head. He got the full blast of the shot in his face. One eye had later to be removed and the other was seriously injured. Smalley was hit by ricochet from the roof and was struck in the back by part of the debris.
“Jenkinson completely failed in his duties as a shot-firer.” added Mr. Furniss. Jenkinson failed to test for gas before firing, a thing that he was under obligation to do, and had it been done, he would have seen the two men. There was no attempt to carry out regulations. The Coal Board had had four prosecutions in the area recently where shotfirers had failed to take the necessary precautions and no notice had been taken of the warnings.
Mr. Charles Bailey of 48, Church Street, Wath, the seriously injured miner said he was approximately 11ft. from the face at the time of the accident. After Jenkinson informed him that further shots were to be fired, after the ones fired by Hague, he said he told Jenkinson that if he would warn him, he would stop the belt. As well as the injuries to his eyes, he had also received injuries to his chest when the shot was fired. He added that he never heard Jenkinson give any warning of the shot.
Questioned by Mr. Bolsover, Jenkinson said that when he spoke to Bailey after the accident, Bailey told him: I knew you were going to fire but I did not think it would be so soon.”
Old Friends
Mr. Bolsover said that the accident was a very unfortunate incident, particularly so because Bailey and Jenkinson were old friends. He had told Bailey that he was going to fire and he naturally thought that Bailey would take the necessary precautions. Every other man on the face had been taken away to safety by Jenkinson and Hague and he therefore felt satisfied having told Bailey, that everyone was under cover, Jenkinson had 16 years’ shot-firing experience and he felt sure that he had shouted “Fire” before he fired the shot. He had been suspended and demoted, which would mean that he would be 30s. worth off for the rest of his life. He had already suffered grievously mentally.
In imposing the fines, the chairman, Mr. W. Cloke, said “The Bench feel sorry for you, Jenkinson, and also for Mr. Bailey.”