Abstract
DURING the early years of the Safety in Mines Research Board in Great Britain, the staff recruited consisted almost exclusively of chemists with no actual mining experience. Their energies were directed towards chemical aspects of the safety problem, and in particular to the phenomena of explosions, a study which lends itself readily to laboratory investigation. Calamitous as gas or dust explosions may be, the reports of the Secretary for Mines show that they normally account for only about five per cent of the total fatal accidents occurring annually in the coal mines of Great Britain, whereas the fatalities caused by falls of roof or sides account for approximately fifty per cent. Thus whilst explosions create most public interest in the safety of mines, falls of roof and sides cause by far the most casualties.
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Prevention of Roof Falls in Mines. Nature 131, 140 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/131140a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/131140a0