Sources on coal mining safety, health and welfare

Extract from plan relating to a colliery disaster

This guide provides information about key sources at the Modern Records Centre which relate to safety, health and welfare in the mining industry. This is not a comprehensive list but is intended to give a sample of the sort of material held at the Centre - other sources can be found by searching our online catalogue.

Trade union archives

Miners' Federation of Great Britain

The MFGB's annual volumes of reports, proceedings and accounts, 1894-1944, include information about the work of the union on a range of issues relating to safety, health and welfare, including campaigns relating to working conditions and responses to individual colliery disasters.

The catalogue of the MFGB collection includes a small section on safety, health and welfare. This includes:

Reports of inquiries into the cause of explosions and other serious accidents causing loss of life at collieries between 1890-1908 in connection with the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, [c.1908].
Royal Commission on Safety in Coal Mines: memorandum of evidence submitted by the MFGB, 1936; and main recommendations, 1939.
Summary of the provisions of the holiday schemes in operation in the districts, MFGB pamphlet, 1938.
Royal Commission on Workmen's Compensation: m emorandum of evidence submitted by the MFGB, 1939.

The collection also contains government publications collected as research material. These include:

HM Chief Inspector of Mines: annual reports for 1921-1924, 1927-1929, 1931-1932, 1934-1935, 1938.
HM Inspectors of Mines: district reports for 1922-1938 (incomplete series).
HM Inspectors of Mines and Quarries: annual reports for 1932 and 1936.
HM Electrical Inspectors of Mines: annual reports for 1929, 1934-1936, 1938.
Safety in Mines Research Board: annual reports for 1927, 1929-1930, 1932-1935, 1937.
Safety in Mines Research Board: research papers, 1928-1937.
Reports of inquiries into individual colliery disasters / accidents, 1925-1943.
Reports and guidance on potential risks and health and safety measures, 1927-1945.

National Union of Mineworkers

General sources on safety, health and welfare

The NUM archives are extensive and it isn't possible to highlight all potentially relevant material in a short guide. Searching within the online catalogue for keywords (for example pneumoconiosis, baths / bathing or CISWO) is a good first step to locating sources in the collection.

The catalogue of the NUM archive does include a large section which specifically relates to safety, health and welfare. This section includes subject files and reports relating to accidents and disasters, inspection and regulation, safety and welfare provision, and research and training.

The NUM's volumes of annual reports and proceedings, 1945-2010, include information about the work of the union on a range of issues relating to safety, health and welfare, including campaigns relating to working conditions and responses to individual colliery disasters.

Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation

The Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation (CISWO) was established in 1952 under the Miners' Welfare Act. It was intended to 'promote and improve the health, social well-being and conditions of living' of those employed in the coal industry and their families. Funds paid by the National Coal Board were used for capital spending, whilst subscriptions taken from miners' wages paid for the upkeep of, and activities within, miners' welfare institutes and grounds. CISWO funded a wide range of social activities, from sports teams to brass bands. The archives of the National Union of Mineworkers include records created by CISWO and documents relating to the union's relationship with the organisation. These include:

Council meetings: agenda, minutes and circulated papers, 1953-1983, 1985-1987.
Annual reports and accounts for 1962-1988, 1990-1991.
NUM Leicester Area subject files relating to CISWO meetings, organisation and welfare provision, 1955-2018
Subject files on 'Convalescent Home facilities for pneumoconiotics', 1954-1980, and 'Convalescent Homes', 1977-1982

National Coal Board / British Coal Medical Service

The NUM archives include reports and other publications relating to the medical service and medical research run by the National Coal Board / British Coal. These include:

Published annual reports for the National Coal Board Medical Service and Medical Research for 1958-1972, 1978/9 and 1982/3, and for the British Coal Medical Service for 1989-1992.
Research reports: statistical research on mining accidents, 1956, reports on radiological surveys at Mill, Coventry and Northfield Collieries as part of field research into pneumoconiosis, 1960-1961.
'Statement of health policy', booklet, c.1957.
Brochure to promote National Coal Board Doncaster Area Medical Centre, Markham Main Colliery, undated [1980s].

Government publications: mine safety

The NUM collection also contains government publications which were collected as research material. These include:

HM Chief Inspector of Mines / HM Chief Inspector of Mines and Quarries: annual reports for 1939-1974.
HM Inspectors of Mines: district reports for 1947-1979, 1982-1983.
HM Electrical Inspectors of Mines: annual reports for 1952-1954.
Health and Safety Executive: annual reports on coal mines for 1978-1984.
Health and Safety Executive: reports on hazards, health and safety, 1976-2006.
Safety in Mines Research Board: annual reports for 1944, 1946, 1950, 1954-1962, 1967, 1970, 1972, 1990-1991.
Reports of inquiries into individual colliery disasters / accidents, 1945-1993.

Yorkshire Miners' Association / NUM Yorkshire Area

The archives of the Yorkshire Miners' Association / National Union of Mineworkers Yorkshire Area are extensive and it isn't possible to highlight all potentially relevant material in a short guide. Searching within the o nline catalogue for keywords is a good first step to locating sources in the collection.

The catalogue of the YMA / NUM Yorkshire Area archive does include a large section which specifically relates to safety, health and welfare. This section includes documents relating to compensation, welfare committees and convalescent schemes, safety boards and committees, accidents and medical appeals.

Some of the key documents from this and other sections of the catalogue are identified below.

Compensation

Letter books

The union kept records which summarised correspondence between head office and individual branches. 'Letter Books' or ledgers include information about claims for compensation payments on behalf of named individuals:

Compensation cases, 1904-1959.
National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) and Supplementary Scheme, 1949-1959.

'Damages'

In 1950 the NUM Yorkshire Area Compensation Department began to produce published reports on common law claims for damages. The archive includes editions of the reports produced between 1950-1962.

Registers on compensation / arbitration cases

Registers on 'Compensation intimations' survive for 1906-1911. These have been digitised and are available through Warwick Digital Collections.

Later registers relating to individual compensation and arbitration cases, 1926-1980, are also included in the collection but are subject to access restrictions under data protection legislation.

Mining disasters

The YMA / NUM Yorkshire Area archive includes a small series of plans and reports relating to mining disasters at Askern Main, 1951; Barnburgh Main, 1957; Bentley, undated [post 1978]; Brookhouse, 1958; Cortonwood, [c.1932]; Criggleston, [1941]; Garforth, [c.1927]; Houghton Main, [c.1930], 1975; Lofthouse, 1973; Markham No.1, [c.1938]; Shireoaks, 1982; Silverwood, 1966; Walton, 1959; Wharncliffe Woodmoor, [c.1936]; Wheldale, [c.1923]; and Wistow, 1982-1991.

The collection also includes:

Published government reports into colliery accidents and disasters between 1878-1884.
NUM Yorkshire Area Disaster Fund accounts, including files relating to relief funds following disasters at Wharncliffe Woodmoor, Thornhill, Lofthouse and Bentley, 1936-1982.
Houghton Main Disaster, Yorkshire: files relating to public inquiry held in 1975, compiled by Arthur Scargill, NUM Yorkshire Area President.
Bentley Colliery Disaster, Yorkshire: files relating to public inquiry held in 1978-1979, compiled by Arthur Scargill, NUM Yorkshire Area President.

District Welfare Committees

The South and West Yorkshire District Miners' Welfare Committees were established in March 1922 and included representatives of owners and miners. They provided funding for local welfare schemes, including grants towards sports facilities, pit head baths, miners' institutes, libraries and access to education.

South Yorkshire District Miners' Welfare Committee: minute book, 1922-1926.
West Yorkshire District Miners' Welfare Committee: minute book, 1922-1926.

Cumberland Miners' Association

The archives of the Cumberland Miners' Association / National Union of Mineworkers Cumberland Area includes a small amount of material relating to welfare provision and colliery accidents.

These include notes of meetings of the Association's Welfare Committee, 1938-1947, and plans, reports, statements and memoranda relating to the investigation into the William Pit disaster, 1947-1950.

'Compensation books' are included in the records of three branches. These contain notes of branch meetings about medical compensation claims made by or on behalf of individual members.

Allerdale Lodge, 1922-1952.
Siddick Lodge, 1931-1952.
Whitehaven Joint Lodges, 1926-1932.

Trades Union Congress

The Trades Union Congress archives include several series of subject files relating to the mining industry and industrial health and welfare. These include the following:

Files relating to lung diseases and occupational health, including information relating to pneumoconiosis in the mining industry:

Subject files on lung diseases, 1940-1960.
Subject files on lung diseases, 1970-1990.

Files relating to mine safety:

Correspondence regarding safety in the mines, 1923, 1947, 1952.
Correspondence, etc., regarding safety, including International Labour Office/Organisation conferences, 1938-1958.

Files relating to mining disasters:

'Mining Industry', 1927-1960.
'Mining Industry: Disasters', 1960-1967.
'Mining Industry: Disasters', 1971-1974.

National Union of Teachers

On the morning of 21 October 1966 a slag heap above the Welsh mining village of Aberfan, Glamorgan, collapsed following heavy rain, engulfing a farm, a housing terrace and Pantglas Junior School. 144 people died, including 116 children and five teachers, all members of the NUT.

The archives of the National Union of Teachers include a subject file on the disaster, including correspondence and a NUT pamphlet on 'Aberfan and the teachers', 1966.

Miscellaneous publications:

The Maypole Colliery explosion. August 18th, 1908. Report of the Inquest', [1908].

'Baths at the pithead and the works', Women's Labour League pamphlet, [c.1912].
Convalescent Home for the South Wales Mining Industry: 7th annual report of the Board of Management for the year ending 31 Oct 1930.
'The social consequences of pneumoconiosis among coalminers in South Wales', Medical Research Council, 1951.
'Coalworkers' pneumoconiosis, emphysema and bronchitis', published report submitted to the NUM, 1978.