| Date: | 1936 |
| Colliery: | Brancepeth |
| Cause: | Shot firing |
| Lives Lost: | 1 |
An unusual accident occurred at Brancepeth Drift, Durham. A 5-foot diameter shaft had been driven upwards for 16 feet between two seams 33 feet apart, with a three-inch diameter borehole as a centre line. An authorized shot-firer and his son, who acted as his assistant, were at the top of the borehole. The shot-firer spoke through the borehole to two stonemen employed at the bottom of the shaft, and arranged for a wooden plug to be inserted in the bottom of the borehole. The shot-firer then charged the hole with 14 ounces of Antifrost Gelammonite explosive. The primer consisted of half a four-ounce cartridge of explosive in which two No. 6 detonators had been placed side by side and tied together; one of these detonators was crimped to the fuse with which the shot was to be fired. Before lighting the fuse, the shot-firer was to receive an "all clear" signal from the stonemen. The shot-firer waited about 20 minutes but the pre-arranged signal was not received. He sent a verbal message to the stonemen stating that he was not going to fire the shot and that he wanted the plug and the explosive withdrawn from the borehole, after which he would talk to the stonemen through the borehole. The delivered message, however, was that the plug and explosive were to be withdrawn and that the stonemen were to carry on with their work as the shot-firer and his son had gone away from the top of the borehole to their own work farther inbye. Acting on the delivered message, the stonemen withdrew the plug and part of the charge, presumably leaving the primer cartridge with the two detonators still suspended in the borehole. One of the stonemen, an authorized shot-firer, charged a ready drilled shot-hole, placed one foot from the borehole and converging towards it, with 12 ounces of explosive and fired it with fuse and detonator. The charge blew through into the borehole and presumably exploded the detonators and primer cartridge suspended there. The force of the explosion decapitated the shot-firer's son who was leaning over the top of the borehole. The accident was primarily due to the fact that the message from the shot-firer at the top of the borehole was not properly delivered to the stonemen at the bottom of the staple. The shot-firer and the two stonemen were relieved of shot-firing duties and the practice of firing shots in the borehole from the top of the staple was discontinued. Electrical firing was also introduced.
| Source: | 1936 Mines Inspectors Report |
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