A Royal Commission was set up in 1840 by the Parliament of United Kingdom to investigate conditions in the mines. In 1842 the report submitted by the Royal Commission about the state of coal mining made some shocking revelations about brutality, accidents, long hours, associated lung diseases, and horrific conditions of work put up by the hewers (the men who cut the coal) and the hurriers (the girls and boys who pushed the tubs to the shaft). The report also stated that “children under five years of age worked underground as trappers for twelve hours a day and for two pennies a day; older girls carried baskets of dug coal which were far too heavy for them and caused deformities in these girls”. During this time, social security was absolutely non existent. The consequence of the 1842 Royal Commission report led to the introduction of the Mines Act of 1842 which forbade the employment of women, girls, and boys under the ten years in the mines. The Act made provisions for the appointment of inspectors to see that the provisions of the act were properly implemented. In 1850, the inspection of mines was intensified with permission given to the inspectors to go underground to investigate conditions. In the following year a Royal School of Mines was set up to train the inspectors. Thereafter, in 1860 the lower age limit for the boys working in the mines was raised to twelve. In 1872 several safety measures were introduced. One of the safety measures required that managers of mines be correctly trained and certified. In 1908, the working hours in a mine was restricted to eight hours a day, and was further reduced to seven and a half hours in 1930. With the nationalization of the coal industry in 1946, the National Coal Board was entrusted the responsibility to ensure adequate safety standards and proper working conditions for miners of the coal industry. The Coal Mines (Control of Inhalable Dust) Regulations 2007 has established a target oriented framework imposing duties on mine owners, mine managers, employers and employees to protect persons working at coal mines from health risks arising from exposure to inhalable dust.
