THE MINE DISASTER – THE TIGHTENING OF SAFETY MEASURES

Above: Staff member of the lamp room takes petrol lamp with Marsaut 'cloak' from lamp rack. © Historisch Centrum Limburg / DSM Voorlichtingsdienst – Fotocollectie DSM [pr6877] Below: Cover of the book ''Regulations for persons designated to use a petrol lamp for underground works', March 1952, Voorlichtingsdienst Staatsmijnen

Safety measures were tightened up in the Netherlands after the disaster at the Hendrik State Mine. The lamps were checked more thoroughly for defects in the lamp rooms. Miners were given extra instructions on paper to emphasize the impor- tance of using the petrol lamp as a measuring tool. Miners whom, for whatever reason, lost their petrol lamp or left their petrol lamp unattended, were fired on the spot. 

Mine lamps were continually developed to improve safety. Until the 1940s, the end of the hook on the lamp was pointed and sharp. This enabled the lamp to be hammered into the wooden beams under- ground. The disadvan- tage was that the sharp point damaged the mesh. After 1950, only petrol lamps with a rounded hook were used and the hook could no longer damage the mesh. However, the sharp point was also no longer needed in the mines as iron supports largely replaced the wooden ones. 

In terms of safety the State Mines went a step further. In addition to rounded hooks, the State Mines also manufactured loose, detachable ‘Marsaut cloaks’ for their lamps. This invention dates back to 1871 when French engineer and mining director Jean Baptiste Marsaut, introduced a lamp with a sheet steel shade. It was placed over the mesh shades to provide additional protection. These ‘cloaks’ with holes in them, were made on site and applied to the Friemann & Wolf 300 model. In 1956 when the Sate Mines had a new lamp manufacturer (CEAG, Dortmund), the new lighting lamps with electric igniters were automatically supplied with the special detachable ‘Marsaut cloaks’.

A disaster similar to the one in 1928 has never again happened in the Netherlands.

However, a slipping conveyor belt caused a second disaster in March 1947. It happened at a depth of 636 meters in the same mine and another thirteen miners lost their lives.