20 AND 24 VICT., CAP. 151.

AN ACT FOR THE REGULATION AND INSPECTION OF MINES. WHEREAS an Act was passed in the session holden in the 5th and 6th years of Her Majesty, chap. 99, "to prohibit the Employment of Women and Girls in Mines and Collieries, to regulate the Employment of Boys, and to make other Provisions relating to Persons working therein :" And whereas an Act was passed in the session holden in the 18th and 19th years of Her Majesty, chap. 108, "to amend the Law for the Inspection of Coal Mines in Great Britain:" And whereas it is expedient that the provisions of the said two several Acts should be amended, and that the provisions for inspection now applicable to coal mines only should be extended to certain mines of ironstone of the coal measures: Be it enacted by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

I-PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO ALL MINES.

I. No Boy under Twelve Years of Age to be Employed in Mines.-After the 1st day of July, 1861, it shall not be lawful for the owner of any mine or colliery to employ any male person under the age of twelve years within such mine or colliery, or to permit any such male person to work or be therein for the purpose of working therein other than such as at the passing of this Act shall have attained the age of ten years, and were at or before the passing of this Act employed within the same or some other mine or colliery: and the said Act of the 5th and 6th years of Her Majesty, and all the provisions and penalties thereof, shall be construed and take effect as if the age of twelve years had been mentioned in Section 2 of the said Act instead of the age of ten years, subject to the proviso hereinafter contained.

II. Exception for Boys between Ten and Twelve who have Certificates as to Education and School Attendance.-Provided, that a boy above the age of ten years and under the age of twelve years may be employed in a mine or colliery upon either of the following conditions; that is to say, that before any such boy is so employed the owner of the mine shall, after the 1st July, 1861, obtain a certificate under the hand of a competent schoolmaster that such boy is able to read and write: Or that, in the second and every subsequent lunar month during which such boy is employed in such mine or colliery the owner shall obtain a certificate under the hand of a competent schoolmaster that such boy has attended school for not less than three hours a day for two days in each week during the lunar month immediately preceding, exclusive of any attendance on Sundays: and the owner shall file and preserve such certificates as aforesaid so long as such boy shall continue in the employment, and during six months after the termination of such employment, and shall produce during such time such certificates to any Inspector under the said Act of the 5th and 6th years of Her Majesty, or to any Inspector of coal mines and ironstone mines, when required so to do by any such Inspector.

III. Penalty on Grant of False Certificates.—Every person giving a false certificate for the purposes of this Act shall for every such offence forfeit a sum not more than £10; nor less than £5; and such offence shall be dealt with as an offence against the said Act of the 5th and 6th years of Her Majesty.

IV. Steam-engines in certain cases not to be under the Charge of Persons under Eighteen. And whereas by section 8 of the said Act of the 5th and 6th years of Her Majesty it is provided, that where there shall be any entrance to a mine or colliery by means of a vertical shaft or pit or inclined plane, or where there

shall be any communication within any part of the mine or colliery to any other part thereof by a vertical shaft or pit or inclined plane, then it shall not be lawful for any owner of any such mine or colliery to allow any person or persons, other than a male of the age of fifteen years and upwards, to have charge of any steam-engine or other engine, windlass or gin (whether driven or worked by manual labour or any other power whatsoever), or to have charge of any part of the machinery, ropes, chains, or other tackle of any such engine by or by means of which engine, machinery, ropes, chains, or other tackle, persons are brought up or passed down any such vertical shaft or pit or inclined plane. It shall not be lawful in any such case as in the said provision mentioned for the owner of the mine or colliery to allow any person, other than a male of the age of eighteen years or upwards, to have charge of any steam-engine, or of any part of the machinery, ropes, chains, or other tackle of any such engine, by or by means of which engine, machinery, ropes, chains, or other tackle, persons are brought up or passed down any such vertical shaft or pit or inclined plane; and any person offending against this enactment shall be subject to the penalty imposed by the recited provision for offending against the same.

V. Foregoing Provisions to be construed with 5th and 6th Vict., chap. 99.The foregoing provisions of this Act shall extend to all mines in Great Britain, and shall be construed with the said Act of the 5th and 6th years of Her Majesty as one Act.

II.-PROVISION FOR INSPECTION AND REGULATION OF COAL MINES AND

IRONSTONE MINES.

VI. 18 and 19 Vict. c. 108, Repealed. The said Act of the 18th and 19th years of Her Majesty shall be repealed; provided always, that the Inspectors of coal mines appointed under such Act shall continue to be Inspectors under this Act of the mines to which the provisions hereinafter contained extend, subject, nevertheless, to removal by one of Her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, and subject to all other the same provisions and with the same powers as if appointed under this Act; provided also, that all penalties incurred under the said Act before the repeal thereof may be proceeded for and applied as if this Act had not been passed.

VII. Mines to which Part 2 of this Act is to extend. Interpretation of Terms. The provisions hereinafter contained shall extend to all coal mines and collieries, and mines of ironstone of the coal measures, and worked in connection with coal or with any disused or exhausted coal mines; and in the construction of such provisions the terms "coal mine or colliery or ironstone mine" shall mean every such mine and colliery as aforesaid, and every shaft in the course of being sunk, and every level or inclined plane in the course of being driven for commencing or opening any such mine, and all the works belonging thereto respectively; the term "owner," shall mean the immediate proprietor, lessee, or occupier of a coal mine or colliery, or ironstone mine, or of any part thereof; and the term "agent" of a coal mine or colliery, or ironstone mine, shall mean any person having on behalf of the owner the care or direction thereof; and the term "Inspector, or Inspectors," shall respectively mean an Inspector or Inspectors of coal mines and ironstone mines appointed or continued under this Act; and the term "district" shall mean the portion of Great Britain assigned, or which shall be assigned, to any one of such Inspectors; and the word "sheriff" shall include sheriff-substitute.

VIII. Power to Secretary of State to appoint Inspectors of Mines.-It shall be lawful for one of her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State from time to

time to appoint any fit person or persons to be an Inspector or Inspectors of coal mines and ironstone mines under this Act, and from time to time to remove any such Inspector or Inspectors; and notice of the appointment of every such Inspector shall be published in the London Gazette.

IX. No Land Agent or Manager of Mine to act as Inspector.-No person who shall act or practice as a land agent, or as a manager, viewer, or agent, or mining engineer, or valuer of mines, or arbitrator in any matters of dispute arising between owners of mines, or be otherwise employed in any mine, shall act as an Inspector of Mines under this Act.

X. General Rules to be observed in Coal and Ironstone Mines.-The following rules (hereinafter referred to as the general rules) shall be observed in every colliery or coal mine, and ironstone mine, by the owner and agent thereof:

1. An adequate amount of ventilation shall be constantly produced in all coal mines or collieries and ironstone mines, to dilute and render harmless noxious gases to such an extent that the working places of the pits, levels, and workings of every such colliery and mine, and the travelling roads to and from such working places shall, under ordinary circumstances, be in a fit state for working and passing therein.

2. All entrances to any such place not in actual course of working and extension, and suspected to contain dangerous gas of any kind, shall be properly fenced off so as to prevent access thereto.

3. Whenever safety-lamps are required to be used, they shall be first examined and securely locked by a person or persons duly authorised for this purpose.

4. Every shaft or pit which is out. of use, or used only as an air-pit, shall be securely fenced.

5. Every working and pumping-pit, or shaft, shall be properly fenced when operations shall have ceased or been suspended.

6. Every working and pumping-pit or shaft where the natural strata, under ordinary circumstances, are not safe, shall be securely cased or lined, or otherwise made secure.

7. Every working pit and shaft shall be provided with some proper means of communicating distinct and definite signals from the bottom of the shaft to the surface, and from the surface to the bottom of the shaft.

8. All underground self-acting and engine planes on which persons travel are to be provided with some proper means of signalling between the stopping places and the ends of the planes, and with sufficient places of refuge at the sides of such planes at intervals of not more than twenty yards.

9 A sufficient cover overhead shall be used when lowering or raising persons in every working pit or shaft where required by the Inspectors.

10. No single-linked chain shall be used for lowering or raising persons in any working pit or shaft, except the short coupling chain attached to the cage or load.

11. Flanges or horns of suffieient length or diameter shall be attached to the drum of every machine used for lowering or raising persons.

12. A proper indicator, to show the position of the load in the pit or shaft and also an adequate break, shall be attached to every machine, worked by steam or water-power, used for lowering or raising persons.

13. Every steam-boiler shall be provided with a proper steam-gauge, water. gauge, and safety-valve.

14. The fly-wheel of every engine shall be securely fenced.

15. Sufficient bore-holes shall be kept in advance, and, if necessary, on both

sides, to prevent inundations in every working approaching a place likely to contain a dangerous accumulation of water.

XI. Special Rules to be also Established.—In addition to the general rules, there shall be established and observed in every coal mine, colliery, or ironstone mine such other rules (hereinafter referred to as special rules) for the conduct and guidance of the persons acting in the management of such coal mine, colliery, or ironstone mine, and of all persons employed in or about the same, as under the particular state and circumstances of such coal mine, colliery, or ironstone mine may appear best calculated to prevent dangerous accidents.

XII. Present Special Rules to Continue in Force.-The special rules now established and in force under the Act hereby repealed, in any coal mine or colliery, shall remain and be the special rules therein, and be of the same force, and subject to be amended by the same authority, and in like manner as if established under this Act.

XIII. New Special Rules how to be Established.—The owner of every ironstone mine, and of every coal mine or colliery, in which special rules are not now established and in force as aforesaid, shall frame and transmit to one of Her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State special rules for such ironstone mine and coal mine or colliery respectively; provided always that such special rules shall be hung up in the manner provided in the 15th section of this Act for the period of fourteen days before the same are transmitted to the Secretary of State; such special rules for every such mine or colliery in work at the commencement of this Act to be framed and transmitted as aforesaid within three months after such commencement, and for every such mine or colliery not then in work to be so framed and transmitted within three months after the working of such mine or colliery shall be commenced or renewed; and such rules, if not objected to by such Secretary of State within forty days from the day upon which they are received by him, shall be established.

If such Secretary of State be of opinion that such rules, or any of them, do not sufficiently provide for the safety of the persons employed in or about such mine or colliery, he may within such forty days propose any alterations in or additions to such special rules, or the substitution of any other rules for such special rules, or any of them.

If such owner within twenty days object to any such alterations, or additions, or rules by way of substitution proposed as aforesaid, he may within fourteen days after he has so objected nominate five or more practical mining engineers, or other competent persons of experience, and who shall not be interested in or employed in the management of such mine or colliery, of whom such Secretary of State shall appoint one or more to be an arbitrator or arbitrators, to determine the matters in difference, and to decide what special rules shall be established in such mine or colliery, and the determination of such arbitrator, or of such arbitrators, or the majority of them, if more than one, shall be final, and the special rules shall be established accordingly.

If such owner do not within such fourteen days nominate such mining engineers, or other competent persons, as aforesaid, then two such mining engineers, or other competent persons, as aforesaid, shall be appointed arbitrators, one of whom shall be named by such owner, and the other by the Inspector of the district.

The said arbitrators so appointed shall, before they proceed in the arbitration, appoint a third person, being such mining engineer, or other competent person, as aforesaid, to be their umpire in case of difference of opinion between them, and in case such arbitrators so appointed refuse or neglect to appoint such umpire

as aforesaid for the space of seven days after their appointment, or of the appointment of such one of them as was last appointed, the Chairman of the General or Quarter Sessions of the Peace in and for the county, riding, or division where such mine or colliery may be situate in England, and the sheriff of the county, or division of the county, where such mine or colliery may be situate in Scotland, upon the application in writing by or on behalf of such owner, or the Inspector of the district, shall appoint such umpire; and the determination of such arbitrators and the said umpire, or of any two of them, shall be final, and the special rules shall be established accordingly.

In case of the death, incapacity, or refusal, or neglect to act of any arbitrator appointed under this Act, another arbitrator shall be appointed in his place in manner following (that is to say); in case the place to be supplied be that of an arbitrator appointed from among the nominees of the owner of a mine or colliery, then another arbitrator shall be appointed by the Secretary of State from among such of the said nominees as may not have been appointed as hereinbefore mentioned an arbitrator or arbitrators, or in case of notice to that effect from the Secretary of State to such owner, shall be appointed by the Secretary of State from among five competent persons to be, within fourteen days after receipt of such notice, nominated by such owner to the Secretary of State; and in case the vacancy be that of an arbitrator appointed by the owner or the Inspector of the district, such vacancy shall be supplied by such owner or the inspector of the district, as the case may require; and in case of the death, incapacity, or refusal or neglect to act of any umpire appointed as aforesaid, or of the death, incapacity, or refusal or neglect to act of either of the arbitrators originally appointed before the appointment of an umpire, the provisions herein contained concerning the appointment of an umpire by such arbitrator, and concerning the appointment of an umpire in default of such appointment by such arbitrators, shall respectively be applicable to authorise the appointment of such umpire by the arbitrators for the time being, and to the case of default by them, to make such appointment within seven days after notice in writing from either of the arbitrators to the other of them of the death, incapacity, or refusal or neglect to act of the umpire, and to the case of default by the arbitrators for the time being to appoint an umpire within seven days after their appointment, or the appointment of such one of them as was last appointed.

If such owner do not within twenty days from the day on which such alterations or additions or such rules by way of substitution are proposed to him object to the same, or (not having made such nomination to the Secretary of State as herein provided), do not within fourteen days after having objected as aforesaid, appoint an arbitrator, and give notice in writing of such appointment to the Inspector of the district, or in case of the death, incapacity, or refusal or neglect to act of any arbitrator appointed from among nominees of such owner, do not, within fourteen days after receipt of such notice from the Secretary of State as aforesaid, nominate five competent persons to the Secretary of State as aforesaid, or do not within the like period after notice to such ⚫wner by the Inspector of the district of the death, incapacity, or refusal or neglect to act of any arbitrator appointed by such owner, appoint an arbitrator and give notice in writing of such appointment to the Inspector of the district, the special rules framed by such owner as altered, added to, or modified by the Secretary of State shall be established. The amount of payment to be made to the arbitrator or arbitrators and umpire (if any) for his or their services shall be fixed by the Secretary of State, and paid in equal moieties by the owner of the mine or colliery to which the arbitration relates, and the Commissioners of Her Majesty's