Summary
Commissioned by the Joint Coal Board, the film starts with a scene of the birth of a child, followed by rock climbers, sky divers and astronauts, with the narrator introducing the concept of managed risk underground. The viewer is presented with scenes of miners working underground at the coalface in coal extraction.
A loose narrative is presented of a miner named Frank, who is hit by a fall of coal and evacuated from the mine and hospitalised. Officials inspect the accident site and other accidents are simulated for the camera, highlighting various underground risks. This is followed by methods of mitigating risks, such as roof inspections and support works, safe coal extraction methods, eye protection, working safely with continuous miners, mitigating the risk of dust and lung disease, gas detection and mitigation, including coal dust mitigation and explosion mitigation.
Special Notes/Achievements
This is the fourth of fifteen films in the Fitzgerald Collection.
Author: J Bird, 2023