Griff Colliery

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Askill, Joseph, 03 Jun 1913, aged 49, Repairer, Four men were at work cleaning the sides of an inclined gate road which had an average dip for the full load of 1 in 8. For 20 to 30 yards up the gate an empty could be taken by hand, and, when full, lowered similarly with all the wheels lockered. Eight yards from the gate bottom there was a wooden door which the deceased attended to during the shift. The third full tub was being lowered by hand from a point 26 yards above the bottom of the incline, and deceased was made aware of this. When near to the door the two men let the tub go and followed it. When they reached the tub which had travelled on to the bend at foot of incline, the deceased was found with his left leg fast under the buffer and wheel. He was not able to give any account of how he got into the position. He died before reaching his home. The tub was probably travelling fast past the door and he had clutched at the front corner with the object of steadying it to the bend, and fell in front of it

Baker, George, 01 Aug 1889, aged 35, Collier, Whilst pushing two tubs into a pass-bye other tubs came behind and fatally crushed the deceased

Barrs, Arthur, 04 Oct 1900, aged 41, Dataller, Crushed by an empty tub against a prop, due to a collision between a train of full tubs and a train of empty tubs which stood foul of the full road at the top of an engine-plane (Slate Coal)

Bates, Thomas, 28 Sep 1903, aged 32, Clay Miner, Fall of side. Deceased was getting down a piece of fire-clay from the side of the working place, when it suddenly gave way and fell upon him. with fatal results (Fire-clay seam)

Brooks, William, 03 Oct 1887, aged 33, Loader, Fall of coal when setting sprags [More information ...]

Chandler, W., 14 Dec 1857, aged 25, Miner, Fall of coal

Corbitt, Joseph, 12 Jun 1875, aged 24, Collier, Coming up incline. Full tub broke loose and ran into deceased

Fowke, James, 06 Jun 1898, aged 56, Banksman, Whilst unloading the lower deck of a cage a water tub on the upper deck came out and fell upon the deceased. The catch which should have held the water tub in the cage was defective owing to some bolts coming loose

Giles, Charles Walter, 21 Oct 1910, aged 19, Loader, An airway, parallel to and about 5 yards from a large fault, was being enlarged by stripping coal off one side. The airway was formed on one side by packs extending to the fault, with wastes at intervals, and by solid coal on the other, with 3 ft. of coal left up for roof over the whole area. Deceased was filling a tub near a waste, when a "bump" brought down a huge fall of coal and rock about 12 ft. high over the whole of the waste and into the road, and buried deceased, whose body was recovered five hours later. The fall came from the fault on one side and a slip on the other

Green, Ernest Thomas, 02 Nov 1913, (accident: 23 Sep 1913), aged 22, Incline attendant, His duties were to attend to the self-acting incline in the gate road and to assist in lowering single tubs from the flat sheets to the incline top, a distance of 29 feet with a gradient for the full load of 1 in 9. When taking a tub down deceased was in front with his face towards the tub, and the loader was behind the tub. It went rather faster than usual owing to one of the back wheels having become partly loose on the axle, and the locker in the opposite wheel having little effect on it. Deceased's head and chest were crushed between the moving tub and another standing at the blocks on the incline top. To go in front of a tub down an incline roadway was a breach of Special Rule 88, and General regulation 26. Deceased resumed work on October 12th and continued for seven or eight days. He was again medically attended and died from septic meningitis and pleurisy on November 2nd

Haltam, Isaac, 18 Aug 1898, (accident: 07 Aug 1898), aged 25, Dataller, Deceased and others were engaged in building a clay wall in the return air way to hold some water back and near the exhaust pipe of a steam hauling engine. Other men were moving tubs about the pit bottom and turned steam on the hauling engine to assist them causing the exhaust steam to be ejected over the deceased. He died on the 18th August

Hankinson, Fred, 31 Jul 1924, 11.15 a.m., 5th hour of shift, aged 41, Stallman, Deceased was building a waste side pack with dirt, which he was obtaining from the waste, when the roof suddenly collapsed, burying him, and his release was not effected until 9 hours afterwards. He was then dead. The face was just crossing the Slate Coal rib, some 10 to 12 ft. below, and the fall was probably due to the sinking of the strata over this goaf

Hannigan, James, 10 Jul 1873, aged 35, Miner, Fall of roof

Harding, Robert, 19 Dec 1880, aged 24, Banksman, Slipped over the dirt bank, and loaded tub fell upon him

Hill, William, 24 Jun 1862, aged 35, Miner, Fall of coal

Knight, D., 24 Apr 1862, aged 54, Miner, Fall of coal

Mallabone, William, 12 Dec 1853, Fall of coal in the mine

Marlow, William Thomas, 15 Sep 1896, aged 21, Boatman, Crushed between waggons at the canal wharf which is situated about three-quarters of a mile from the mine. Deceased was not in the employ of the colliery company [fatality reported during the year but not classified as a reportable accident]

Moreton, Thomas, 05 Sep 1913, aged 22, Getter, Fall of roof

Morgan, William, 07 Sep 1883, aged 32, Roadsman, Run over on incline plane (Slate coal)

Nixon, William, 08 Jan 1884, aged 30, Loader, Fall of roof coal. Deceased went into the goaf whilst another man was cutting the roof coal down

Parker, Abraham, 15 Mar 1913, (accident: 25 Feb 1913), aged 42, Banksman, He was standing on the edge of a brick hopper and was engaged in shovelling slack on to the a travelling belt when the lapel of his coat was caught between two belt plates and he was dragged on to the belt and under the shute, which was only a few inches from the belt. His left leg was fractured in two places and his right knee partially dislocated. He was taken to the hospital and was recovering from the accident, but contracted influenza and pneumonia from which he died on March 15th

Randal, J., 29 Oct 1860, aged 30, Miner, Fall of roof

Randle, Thomas, 10 Jan 1899, aged 67, Dataller, Fall of roof. Deceased and another man were replacing a bar which had been knocked out upon an engine plane, when a fall of roof took place and killed the deceased (Slate coal)

Rayson, John, 22 Nov 1892, aged 25, Loader, Fall of roof. The "jig prop" at the top of a self acting incline had given way and knocked a second prop out. The deceased was engaged with the stallman when the roof fell

Reader, Charles, 03 Oct 1887, aged 35, Stallman, Fall of coal when setting sprags [More information ...]

Sharp, Frederick, 01 Feb 1894, aged 21, Shunter, Deceased was attending to the shunting of empty waggons when he was run over. Fly shunting was being done contrary to the rules of the colliery. He died the same day

Starkey, John, 13 May 1890, aged 15, Bank boy, Crushed between the buffers of two railway waggons which he was employed in moving contary to section 7 (8) of the Mines Act. Accident occurred at the loading stage of the pit bank

Storer, George, 16 May 1899, aged 65, Staller, Fall of side. While repairing an airway, the timber set for supporting the side, which was overhanging, gave way and allowed the side to fall over (Slate coal)

Storer, Thomas, 29 Jul 1880, aged 29, Collier, Fall of roof

Townsend, John, 06 Jun 1861, aged 17, Trammer, Fall of coal [More information ...]

Wagstaff, Thomas, 14 Jan 1856, aged 46, Falling down shaft [More information ...]

Warr, Thomas, 24 Oct 1913, (accident: 23 Oct 1913), aged 48, Stallman, A heavy fall of roof occurred across the gate road close up to the coal face. After the fall had been cleared and the cavity timbered, a start was made to drive a heading in front of the gate on purpose to open out the stall on either side under a new roof. A steel girder was set to the roof coal, with some thin lagging over, when the heading entered. When it had advanced 4 feet to 6 feet, with a width of 10 feet 7 inches, the roof coal and stone above fell from the bar to the coal face and severely injured deceased, who it was stated was preparing the ground at the moment for a prop. Two "catch-props" ought to have been fixed before working the heading so far in advance of the bar. There was a very pronounced known "slip" on one side of the heading. Deceased died next day in hospital

Watson, Arthur Gordon, 14 Dec 1914, aged 15, Signal boy, Deceased was stationed in the signal house about half-way along an endless rope haulage road having a rising gradient of 1 in 8 outbye. The signals he received inbye of the station he transmitted outbye to a bell-house at a curve which is near the top of the road and the motor-house. A clip broke when a set of two full tubs were rounding the curve, and the tubs ran back, collided with another set of two full tubs, and liberated them. Altogether fourteen sets, each of two tubs, were detached from the rope in a distance of 400 yards. Deceased was found dead under some runaways outside the bell house. Apparently when the haulage rope stopped, deceased for some unknown reason stepped on to the rail track, when he was taken unawares by runaway full tubs which had become unclipped owing to the jerking of the rope. He was killed instantly

White, Joseph, 04 Apr 1889, aged 33, Stallman, Fall of coal while taking out the holing sprags

Wilson, Isaac William, 04 Nov 1902, aged 17, Horse-driver, Fall of roof while passing along the roadway with a set of empty tubs. Deceased was riding in the third tub, which got off the rails and struck a prop supporting a steel girder. This broke the prop and allowed the steel girder and roof to fall on deceased. He died the same day (Slate coal)

Woodcock, William, 01 Jan 1891, aged 62, Carpenter, Fell down unconscious in the blacksmith's shop and died of syncope the result of a dilated heart. No accident or injury to deceased