Single Record

Full Details

Surname

DODD

Forename

Henry

Day

02

Month

11

Year

1904

Age

63

Occupation

Shifter

Mine/Quarry Name

Seaton Burn

Mineral Worked

Coal

Owner

Seaton Burn Coal Co. Ltd

Location

Brunswick

County

Northumberland

Details of Event

The furnace shaft is also used as a coal drawing shaft for the Low Main and is traversed by two doubled cages holding one tub on each deck and running in end slides which terminate about 5 feet from the landing. There is a separate winding shaft in the Yard seam an upper seam, but no engineman attends during the night and the Yard seam shifters and stonemen make use of the Low Main shaft only using the upper deck of the north side cage. A code of signals posted up at the top and bottom of the shaft not strictly observed and it appeared to have been understood that while the upper deck of the north side cage being used from the Yard seam no use should be made of the other cage the lower deck of which stood level the flat sheets at the Low Main, when men were getting out of the upper deck of the north side cage on its arrival at the surface from the Yard seam. About midnight men were both at the Yard seam and Low Main to ride and signals were made to the surface from both levels. The north side cage was set at the Yard seam and some men got in and were drawn to the surface but as more were to follow the engineman set the cage signals there again. While the first cage load of Yard seam men were getting out at the surface deceased and other men thought the top deck of the other cage was level with the plates at the Low Main, and a man and a boy got in and deceased was following them when the cage was drawn away and he was dragged up the shaft and his head was severed from his body and remained in the cage his body falling back. The bottom of the shaft was well lighted by electric lamps. The Local Inspectors reported that they considered it a pure accident.