May 1866: Lighting the way for mine safety
The Davy lamp improved safety for miners and set the standard for innovations that followed the pioneering light source
Two things are immediately apparent in this short report from May 18, 1866, 23 years before the formation of the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain, the UK’s first national mine workers union.
First, our reporter noted that 1000 or so miners were killed annually in Britain’s collieries. Second, our reporter added that a number colliery owners weren’t at all bothered by the deaths of miners digging for their profits.
According to the report, The Engineer’s journalists had descended into mines several times, and were ‘painfully struck with the very indifferent light given by the Davy lamp.’
“We feel little doubt that many of these lives are indirectly lost through the bad light by which the men are obliged to work,” said The Engineer. “Working colliers complain of the poor light they are obliged to work by, and more than one have expressed their surprise to us that the lamp has not been improved.”
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