Introduction
Poor conditions and accidents at work did not begin with industrialisation. However, the concentration of people into larger workplaces, the increased use of machinery and the new dangers of deep mining saw the numbers involved accidents rise.
As the industrial age progressed and more people began to work in factories and mills with their whirring machinery, the number of accidents rocketed. Agitation by workers along side demands by middle class 'public opinion' to introduce safer equipment and work practices saw the central government increasingly involved in setting minimum safety standards in various industries.
Information regarding working conditions, accidents at work and safety rules and regulations can be found in a variety of record series.
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For the record:
Central government's interest in health and safety increased as the 19th century progressed. Parliamentary Papers provide reams of information relating to workplace accidents and contemporary safety measures. Various Home Office series contain information on individual workplace accidents or disasters. There is also correspondence from inventors and entrepreneurs who tried to persuade the government to invest in their latest safety designs.
Examples of legislation seeking to provide some form of protection to workers include:
- 1802 Health & Morals of Apprentices Act. First attempt to regulate pauper children in the textile industry
- 1819 Factory Act. No children under nine years old to work in cotton mills. Children under nine years in other factories to work an 11 hour maximum day
- 1833 Althorp's Factory Act. Limited hours to be worked by children. Established four factory inspectors
- 1842 Mines Act. Employment of all women (and children under 10 years of age) prohibited underground
- 1901 Minimum working age set at 12 years. Trade Boards introduced to set minimum wages in specific industries
- 1937 Factory Act. Limited workers under 16 years of age to a 44 hour week
- 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act. Health and safety legislation extended to all workplaces. Provisions extended to off-shore gas and oil workers from 1975
Plan of Grassmoor Colliery, Derbyshire. Taken from the report into the Grassmoor explosion in 1933 where 14 men were killed. (Report dated 1934). Catalogue reference: EF 2/7
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Particularly useful series relating to health, safety and accidents would include:
- HO 87: Factory and Mines Entry Books, 1836-1921 (with earlier out-letters to factory inspectors in HO 43)
- HO 44 and HO 45 Correspondence includes in-letters concerning the workings of the Factory Acts. Both series are occasionally indexed with place names given
- POWE 6: Mine and Quarries Files, 1887-1920 contains a series of records relating to accidents
- POWE 7: Annual Reports of the Inspector of Mines, 1850 onwards. These can also be obtained as Parliamentary Papers. A series of manuscripts reports can be found in HO 87/53)
- POWE 8: Safety Division and Inspectorate of Mines and Quarries, 1876 onwards. These deal with a series of issues but is indexed by subject e.g. accidents, accident prevention, health, inspection, rescue etc
Local historians interested in health and safety/accidents in those industries which are generally well represented in our holdings will find much of interest.
Examples of the range of material you may find under these references include:
- RAIL 227/431. Stratford. Great Eastern Railway, various dates. Photographs of accidents, employees, engines etc
- COAL 75/2141. Durham Division No. 1 Area, 1959-60. Special Safety Committee (Accidents) Formation: Durham Division
- POWE 6/7. (Ministry of Power) New Glynen Colliery, Llanelly, 1919. Inspector's report of explosion and papers regarding the prosecution of colliery manager
- HO 45/7349. (Home Office) Hartley Colliery disaster: engine beam fell down bratticed shaft and blocked it up; 204 deaths
- EF 2/7. (Health and Safety Executive) Grassmoor Colliery, Derbyshire, 1933. Report, papers and plans relating to the Grassmoor explosion
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Useful links
Staff records
Introduction
Working lives
