The Coal Mines Act of 1842
In 1840 Lord Shaftesbury persuaded Parliament to set up a Royal Commission to investigate conditions in the mines. Its report, published in 1842, found brutality, accidents, long hours, associated lung diseases, and horrific conditions of work for both hewers (the men who cut the coal) and hurriers (the girls and boys who pushed the tubs to the shaft). It was the first government report to use pictures, and it deeply shocked the public, who were particularly alarmed by the plight of the young ‘trappers’ (who shut and opened the doors down the mine).
In 1842, a British Industrial Reformer named Anthony Ashley Cooper composed the Coal Mines Act. This Act excluded all women from working in Coal Mines underground. Also, no boys under the age of 10 were no longer aloud to be employed underground. It was later discovered that boy between the ages of five and four were being put to work underground before the passing of this act.
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Inspection of mines was strengthened in 1850 when inspectors were given permission to go underground to investigate conditions, and a Royal School of Mines was established the following year to train inspectors. In 1860 the lower limit for the age of boys working in the mines was raised to 12. Various safety measures were introduced in 1872, including a requirement that managers of mines be correctly trained and certified. The working day was limited to eight hours in 1908, and reduced further to seven and a half hours in 1930.
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