Disasters - Names		Disasters - Names

Date:	7th May 1902
Colliery:	Shildon
Cause:	Killed in shaft
Lives Lost:	2

No. 163 on the list occurred at Shildon Colliery, belonging to Messrs. The Shildon Coal Co., Ltd., on May 7th, and caused the death of two shaftmen.

At the time of the accident these two men were engaged putting in ladders in the upcast shaft which is 49 fathoms in depth. They commenced at the bottom of the shaft and worked up over, and had then got ladders in for 30 feet.

They went down the downcast shaft and then proceeded to the bottom of the upcast where they got onto a box cradle, 6 feet long and 2 feet deep, and were taken up, by means of a small winch, to the point at which they wished to work.

On the day in question they had been taken up and had been working at the point, 80 feet from the bottom, for about three hours when they signalled, by means of a rapper rope, to the engineman to be lowered.

The winch is a small one, and its greatest speed, with steam on, is from three to four miles an hour, and it can then be stopped with the foot brake.

The drum can be thrown out of gear and allowed to run free of the engine, and it was out of gear on this occasion, with the result that the cradle and men landed with considerable force onto the bottom. The engineman said he did not know the drum was out of gear, but that he might possibly have got hold of the wrong handle and thrown it out instead of taking hold of the reversing lever as he intended.

Source:

1902 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 1590)

	Askew, George, aged 46, Shaftman, when putting ladders in the upcast shaft the engineman was lowering them and lost control of the engine and ran the kibble hard on to the bottom ; both had broken legs and internal injuries ; Askew died on the 16th inst. and O'Hagan on June 10th
	O'Hagan, John, aged 29, Shaftman, when putting ladders in the upcast shaft the engineman was lowering them and lost control of the engine and ran the kibble hard on to the bottom ; both had broken legs and internal injuries ; Askew died on the 16th inst. and O'Hagan on June 10th
	All names found

 

 Return    Return to Top