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Statutes of Northern Ireland


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COAL MINES REGULATION ACT 1908

COAL MINES REGULATION ACT 1908 - LONG TITLE

An Act to amend the Coal Mines Regulation Acts, 1887 to 1905, for
the purpose of limiting hours of work below ground.{1}
[21st December 1908]
Limit of hours of work below ground in mines.

COAL MINES REGULATION ACT 1908 - SECT 1

1.(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act a [worker] shall not
be below ground in a mine for the purpose of his work, and of
going to and from his work, for more than eight hours during any
consecutive twenty-four hours.

(2) No contravention of the foregoing provisions shall be deemed to
take place in the case of a [worker] working in a shift if the
period between the times at which the last [worker] in the shift
leaves the surface and the first [worker] in the shift returns to
the surface does not exceed eight hours; nor shall any contravention
of the foregoing provisions be deemed to take place in the case of
any [worker] who is below ground for the purpose of rendering
assistance in the event of accident, or for meeting any danger or
apprehended danger, or for dealing with any emergency or work
uncompleted through unforeseen circumstances which requires to be
dealt with without interruption in order to avoid serious
interference with ordinary work in the mine or in any district of
the mine ...

(3) The ... manager of every mine shall fix for each shift of
[workers] in the mine the time at which the lowering of the
[workers] to the mine is to commence and to be completed, and the
time at which the raising of the [workers] from the mine is to
commence and to be completed, in such a manner that every [worker]
shall have the opportunity of returning to the surface without
contravention of the foregoing provisions of this section, and shall
post and keep posted at the pit head a conspicuous notice of the
time so fixed, and shall make all arrangements necessary for the
observance of those times in lowering and raising the [workers].

(4) The interval between the times fixed for the commencement and
for the completion of the lowering and raising of each shift of
[workers] to and from the mine shall be such time as may for the
time being be approved by the inspector as the time reasonably
required for the purpose. Provided that, in the event of any
accident to the winding machinery, or other accident interfering with
the lowering or raising of [workers], the interval may temporarily
be extended to such extent as may be necessary; but in any such
case the ... manager of the mine shall on the same day send
notice of the extension and the cause thereof to the inspector, and
the extension shall not continue beyond such date as may be allowed
by the inspector.

(5) In the event of the ... manager feeling aggrieved by a
decision of the inspector under the last foregoing subsection, the
matter shall, in accordance with regulations as to procedure and
costs made by the Secretary of State, be referred to the decision
of a person appointed by the judge of county courts for the
district ... in which the mine is situate, whose decision shall be
final; but until such decision is given the times approved by the
inspector shall be in force as respects the mine.

(6) A repairing shift of [workers] may, notwithstanding the
provisions of this section, for the purpose of avoiding work on
Sunday, commence their period of work on Saturday before twenty-four
hours have elapsed since the commencement of their last period of
work, so long as at least eight hours have elapsed since the
termination thereof.

(7) For the purposes of this Act, the expression ["worker"] means
any person employed in a mine below ground, who is not an official
of the mine (other than a ... deputy), or a mechanic or
horse-keeper, or a person engaged solely in surveying or measuring;
and any number of [workers] whose hours for beginning and
terminating work in the mine are approximately the same shall be
deemed to be a shift of [workers].

Provided that

(a)In the case of a ... deputy, onsetter, pump-minder, fanman, or
furnace-man, the maximum period for which he may be below ground
under this Act shall be nine hours and a half; and

(b)Where the work of sinking a pit or driving a cross-measure drift
is being carried on continuously, no contravention of the provisions
of this Act shall be deemed to take place as respects any [worker]
engaged on that work if the number of hours spent by him at his
working place does not exceed six at any one time, and the
interval between the time of leaving the working place and returning
thereto is in no case less than twelve hours.

If any question under this section arises (otherwise than in legal
proceedings) whether any person is a [worker] or is a [worker] of
any particular class, that question shall be referred to the
Secretary of State, and his decision shall be final.

COAL MINES REGULATION ACT 1908 - SECT 2
Register of times of descent and ascent.

2.(1) The ... manager of every mine shall appoint one or more
persons to direct at the pit head the lowering and raising of men
to and from the mine, and shall cause a register to be kept in
the form prescribed by the Secretary of State, and containing the
particulars prescribed by him with respect to the times at which
men are lowered into and raised from the mine, and the cases in
which any man is below ground for more than the time fixed by
this Act, and the cause thereof, and the register shall be open to
inspection by the inspector.

(2) The [workers] in a mine may, at their own cost, appoint and
station one or more persons, whether holding the office of
checkweigher or not, to be at the pit head, at all times when
[workers] are to be lowered or raised, for the purpose of observing
the times of lowering and raising, and the provisions of the Coal
Mines Regulation Acts, 1887 to 1905, relating to the checkweigher,
and to the relations between the ... manager of the mine and the
checkweigher shall, so far as applicable, apply to any person so
appointed as they apply to the checkweigher, with the substitution,
as respects appointment, of the [workers] in the mine for the
persons who under those Acts are entitled to appoint a checkweigher.

(3) If any person knowingly makes a false entry in the register
which is to be kept under this section, or knowingly causes or
permits any such false entry to be made, he shall be liable on
summary conviction in respect of each offence to a fine not
exceeding five pounds. Provided that the total amount of fines for
offences under this section committed by any one person at any one
pit head in any one period of twenty-four hours shall not exceed
twenty-five pounds.

COAL MINES REGULATION ACT 1908 - SECT 3
Power to extend hours of work on a limited number of days in a
year.

3.(1) The time fixed by this Act as the time during which the
[workers] in a mine may be below ground for the purpose of their
work and of going to and from their work may be extended as
respects any mine by the ... manager of the mine, on not more
than sixty days in any calendar year by not more than one hour a
day, and on any day on which an extension of time is made in
accordance with this section as respects any mine the time as so
extended shall be substituted for the purposes of this Act as
respects that mine for the time as fixed by this Act.

(2) The ... manager of every mine shall cause a register to be
kept in such manner as the Secretary of State may direct of the
cases in which any extension of time has been given under this
section, and the register shall be open to inspection by the
inspector.

COAL MINES REGULATION ACT 1908 - SECT 4
Power to suspend Act by Order in Council in event of emergency.

4. His Majesty may, in the event of war or of imminent national
danger or great emergency, or in the event of any grave economic
disturbance due to the demand for coal [or for the product of any
other mines to which this Act applies] exceeding the supply
available at the time, by Order in Council suspend the operation of
this Act to such extent and for such period as may be named in
the Order, either as respects all [mines] or any class of [mines].

COAL MINES REGULATION ACT 1908 - SECT 5
Application to mines not entered by a shaft, &c.

5. In the application of this Act to mines which are entered
otherwise than by a shaft, and to [workers] who are not lowered to
or raised from the mine by means of machinery, the admission of
[workers] to the mine shall be substituted for the lowering of
[workers] to the mine, and the return of [workers] from the mine
shall be substituted for the raising of [workers] from the mine,
and such times as may be determined by the ... manager of the
mine, with the approval of the inspector, as the times properly
corresponding to the times fixed for the commencement and completion
of the lowering and raising of [workers] to and from the mine,
shall be substituted for the times so fixed.

COAL MINES REGULATION ACT 1908 - SECT 6
Provisions for securing compliance with Act.

6. For securing compliance with the provisions of this Act, it
shall be the duty of the ... manager of every mine

(a)to make regulations for that purpose and publish such regulations
by posting them and keeping them posted at the pit head, and by
supplying a copy thereof gratis to every [worker] employed
underground in the mine who, not having been previously supplied
with a copy, applies therefor at the office at which he is paid;
and

(b)to provide necessary means for raising the [workers] from the
mine within the time limited by this Act.

COAL MINES REGULATION ACT 1908 - SECT 7

7.(1) ... a [worker] shall not be guilty of an offence under this
Act in the case of any failure to return to the surface within
the time limited by this Act if he proves that without default on
his part he was prevented from returning to the surface owing to
means not being available for the purpose.

Subs.(2) rep. by 1969 c.6 (NI) s.163 sch.5

(3) If a [worker] is below ground for a longer period during any
consecutive twenty-four hours than the time fixed by this Act he
shall be deemed to have been below ground in contravention of this
Act unless the contrary is proved.

COAL MINES REGULATION ACT 1908 - SECT 8
Application and short title.

8.(1) This Act shall, except where the contrary intention appears,
apply to all mines to which the Coal Mines Regulation Acts, 1887
to 1905, apply.

Subs.(2) rep. by SLR 1927

(3) This Act may be cited as the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1908,
and shall be construed as one with the Coal Mines Regulation Acts,
1887 to 1905 and this Act and those Acts may be cited together as
the Coal Mines Regulation Acts, 1887 to 1908.


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URL: http://www.bailii.org/nie/legis/num_act/cmra1908215.txt