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Full Details

Surname
DEAN
Forename
Thomas
Day
13
Month
12
Year
1907
Age
31
Occupation
Stallman
Mine/Quarry Name
Coppice (a)
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Coppice Colliery Co.
Location
Heath Hayes
County
Staffordshire
Details of Event
A skirting being taken off the side of some pillars at the edge of the gob to form a new air course. The fireman visited the place at 6.15 a.m. and finding that the distance between the props and the edge of the goaf was greater than that allowed by the timbering rules. He instructed the stallman to set another prop at the place indicated. The stallman said he would but neglected to do so his excuse being that it was near stooping time, that the only loose prop in the place was too long and before he could get another in he would be ‘loosed out.’ He told deceased about it and while the latter was clearing away the slack to set the prop a stone 12.5 feet by 4.5 feet at extremes and 1 foot 6 5 inches thick suddenly fell on him and killed him instantly. The stone came away from a smooth slip on one side, previously unseen, and a keen top parting. If the props had been set in conformity with the rules as the coal was taken out, the accident would probably have been prevented.