Disasters - Names		Disasters - Names

Date:	18th July 1901
Colliery:	Murton
Cause:	(See description below)
Lives Lost:	1

No. 241 on the list occurred at Murton Colliery, belonging to Messrs. South Hetton Coal Co., Ltd., on July 18th, and caused the death of a spare rolleywayman.

This accident occurred on the engine plane, but how it was caused is not quite clear. Deceased was found lying on his back close to a refuge hole, and where there was a space of 3 ft. between the engine set and the side of the plane. There was a slight bruise over the region of the heart, but no bones were broken, nor was he otherwise injured: the doctor said he had received a blow and that had caused his death. The position of the bruise on his chest was just the height of the tubs, and the fact that he was found lying on his back with his head out-bye pointed to his having been hit by a full set of tubs coming out to the shaft.

When the empty set, before he was found, arrived at the landing, a baulk of timber was found on the top of the tubs. There is some lofting near where deceased was working and it may have dropped from it as the set was passing under, and been carried in-bye. If this was so he probably had been standing by the side of the way thinking he was clear, and the end of the baulk projecting over the sides of the tubs had caught him on the chest.

It will never be known whether the accident was caused in this way, or if he had been standing by side of the rails and been caught by the tubs.

In any case it would have been much safer if he had gone into the refuge hole until the set passed. If men would only do this there would be much less risk of accidents.

Source:

1901 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 1062), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian

	Lavis, Thomas, aged 22, Assistant Rolleywayman, killed on engine plane by being caught by engine set, Buried: Holy Trinity Churchyard, Murton
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