Chapter XXXIX: Quarries

_Introduction._--Man is essentially a builder, and Nature has prepared for him material in abundance and rich variety. Quarrying or stone-getting is an occupation of great antiquity. Its early records are evidenced in the relics of man’s labour in prehistoric days. Through all the ages human ingenuity and skill have been at work freeing the closely-fettered rocks and fashioning them for uprising.

A thorough investigation of our subject would make an acquaintance with geology and practical mechanics desirable, but in the present article it will only be possible to deal with the matter in its immediate relation to health, and its public importance will be evident when it is remembered that something like 94,000 individuals are engaged in connection with quarries in the British Isles alone.[141]

_Definitions._--A quarry (L.O.F. _quarrière_, F. _carrière_, L.L. _quadraria_, _quadratus_) is an excavation, pit, or place from which stone or rock material is separated by digging, cutting, blasting, or similar processes.

For legal requirements a quarry is defined as: “A place in which persons work in getting slate, stone, coprolites, or other minerals, and any part of which is more than 20 feet deep.”[142]

It will be readily seen that the depth limit in the legal definition introduces a factor which goes far to lessen a proper application of the law, and it is desirable that such restriction should be abandoned.

_Varieties of Quarries._--Quarries vary greatly in respect to their size, depth, and the nature of the material worked. In some instances the quarry is superficial in its extent, readily accessible and easily worked from the surface. In other cases the quarry is deep, can be reached only by shafts or ladders, and its working necessitates elaborate means for the elevation and removal of the materials when separated from the native rock. Of the stones quarried for building purposes we may distinguish: 1. Enduring stones, which are used for the major part of the structure; 2. Shaping stones, which are principally utilised for ornamentation.

Of quarried materials the uses may be exceedingly varied, chalk being worked for the making of lime, china-clay for the purpose of pottery, graphite for pencil manufacture, and so on.

Quarries are perhaps best classified according to the nature of the rock they yield. We can distinguish the following:--

Alabaster
Basalt or Whinstone
Brickearth
Chalk
Chert
China-clay
Clay
Flint
Freestone
Graphite
Gravel
Gypsum
Limestone
Marl
Porphyry
Sand
Sandstone
Shale
Serpentine
Slate

Of each of the above class of quarry much might be said, would space allow, concerning: (_a_) geological character of the rock; (_b_) localities where the various forms of quarry are to be found; (_c_) uses of the quarried materials; (_d_) special methods of working employed in some of the quarries; and (_e_) particular dangers connected with certain forms of quarry. But for the purposes of this article it will be desirable to deal with the subject in its general aspects only.

_Methods of Working._--In early days men were content to labour patiently with primitive methods and inadequate tools. The modern use of explosives, and the introduction of various mechanical contrivances, have, however, done much to accelerate the getting of stone: and such measures have led to accidents and conditions inimical to health.

The methods of quarrying and the operations immediately concerned therewith may be grouped under:--(_a_) Mechanical, or the application of various mechanical contrivances; (_b_) Blasting, or the use of explosives.

In spite, however, of the introduction of machinery and explosives, it would seem that the risk of accidents and exposure to conditions detrimental to health have not been very appreciably increased, although, of course, the process of quarrying has been greatly facilitated, and such works extended. In most quarries, both in this country and abroad, the wedge and hammer are still the chief agents employed in the getting of stone. For rocks in levels or distinct seams, as in the case of the millstone grit, probably the wedges afford the best methods. A procedure called the “plug and feather” method, and working on the principle of the incline plane, is sometimes employed.

According to an ancient procedure, after the hole was drilled, dry wood was inserted, and the expansion after moistening with water employed to split the rock. Another custom was to fill the bore-hole with quicklime and water.

Explosives are, however, extensively employed, and their use proves fruitful as a source of accidents. In many quarries with stone in flat layers, after boring the holes by hand, or the aid of machinery, only sufficient explosive is used to split but not to break or shatter the rock, its further separation being accomplished by wedge and hammer.

Blasting is commonly used for all rocks not found in seams, and hence explosives are largely employed in granite and marble quarries. In slate quarries also, especially in Wales, blasting would seem to be the favourite method.

Among the more important explosives used in quarry work are the following:--

Blasting gelatine
Dynamite
Fulminate of mercury
Gelatine dynamite
Gelignite
Gunpowder
Roburite
Tonite

_Pathology._--The quarryman, from the nature of his work and the circumstances under which it has to be carried on, is necessarily exposed to influences which may (1) excite or (2) predispose to morbid conditions, and in not a few cases it is difficult, if not impossible, to sharply distinguish between them.

The pathological lesions resulting from the action of the causal agents may be best considered under the customary headings of (1) Accidents, and (2) Disease.

_Etiology._--The exciting agents may be classified according to their nature into:--(1) Mechanical; (2) Thermal; (3) Chemical; (4) Electrical; (5) Biological.

The predisposing agents act by (1) influencing the condition of the individual, and (2) by modifying the character of his environment. Without entering into details we may simply enumerate such points as heredity, sex, period of life, constitution, temperament and previous disease, as modifying the health tendencies of the individual; while climate, social standing, education, form of occupation, and habits are all influential in modifying the environment.

Of accidents occurring in connection with quarries, a study of the published returns will show that these may be best considered as to whether they arise (1) inside, or (2) outside the quarry proper.

Quarry accidents may thus be grouped:--

1. _Those which occur inside the quarries_--

(1) From falls of ground and detachment of rock. Such may occur (_a_) from beyond, or (_b_) at the person’s own working place.

(2) By blasting. Accidents are here particularly liable to occur (_a_) while charging or tamping, (_b_) from stones projected by shots, (_c_) from miss-fires.

(3) During descent or ascent to a deep-seated quarry, accidents may arise from (_a_) falling from paths, steps, or ladders, while climbing; or even (_b_) when ascending or descending by machinery.

(4) Accidents may also arise from a miscellaneous group of causes, such, for instance, as--

The breaking of ropes or chains, the mismanagement of machinery, boiler explosions; in connection with inclined and engine planes, railways, tramways, or sidings, from falling from ledges, or by injury with the ordinary quarry implements.

2. _Those which occur outside the quarries_--

The chief of these arise in connection with machinery, from the use of hot liquid or molten metal, by boiler explosions, from the escape of gas, steam, or metal, on inclined and engine planes, railways, tramways, or sidings.

It will thus be seen that the accidents arise chiefly from mechanical agencies, or from the misuse of explosives. Thermal causes lead to burns and scalds. As electricity comes into more general use, injuries from this agent are likely to be met with.

The dangers from mechanical conditions depend upon: (1) the situation and material of the quarries; (2) the implements and machinery used.

Dangers in connection with the use of explosives arise: (1) while conveying explosives; (2) during the thawing of explosives; (3) from changing or stemming holes; (4) allowing access of sparks from lamp or candle; (5) by the use of iron or steel tools, or by using wooden, brass, or copper tools; (6) premature explosions are liable to arise from the use of squibs or straws, and sometimes from the so-called safety fuse; (7) delayed explosions; (8) unramming shots; (9) blows from stones projected by shots.

Exceptional accidents may also arise, as, for instance, where an acetylene gas apparatus used in the quarry work suddenly exploded.

The nature and extent of the injuries met with in quarrying vary greatly. Burns and scalds may occur from contact with the boilers and steam appliances used in many large quarries. Contusions of greater or less severity are necessarily common. Crushes may arise from falling rock or entanglement in machinery. Dislocation of joints sometimes occurs from falls or similar accidents. Eye injuries are somewhat common from granite chips or particles of steel, and they also occur where dressing of stone is carried out at the quarries. Fractures arise from falls and the giving of the ground. Lacerations, superficial or deep, and involving skin and muscular structures, arise not only in connection with the actual quarrying, but in the use of the machinery which is now so frequent in large quarries. Sprains are not uncommon in connection with falls and the like. Wounds may arise from various circumstances, and may be of any degree of severity.

_Diseases._--After having made extensive inquiries with a view to ascertain the extent of actual disease which may be fairly considered as incidental to quarrying, we are drawn to the conclusion that such work, generally speaking, is not necessarily detrimental to health.

The medical officers and managers of most of the large quarries from whom we have sought information are decisive in considering quarrying, as usually carried out in this country, a fairly healthy occupation.

Of course quarry-workers are liable to many of the ailments to which all labourers are more or less prone, and their habits and social customs are not always such as to maintain a high degree of physical vigour.

Unfortunately, in many parts the quarrymen are thriftless and drunken. Their homes also are often ill-built and ill-kept. A neglect of habits of cleanliness is, in many instances, only too apparent. In some parts of the country the quarrymen are of poor physique, which arises, according to local opinion, from too early marriage, intermarriage, excessive tea-drinking, and poor diet.

We find that in some rather isolated districts, for instance in Cornwall, there is considerable intermarriage among the workers, and some believe that this affords a factor of importance in connection with the development of phthisis.

That quarrying is by no means a dangerous employment to health is evidenced by the fact that in many quarry districts old men abound, many of whom work until over eighty years of age.

We have made particular inquiries regarding workers in limestone, but even those who are engaged as burners and dressers of the lime seem to experience no detriment to health, many having worked all their lives without complaint. Indeed, we learn that at one justly celebrated lime-works, delicate lads have been sent to work at drawing lime, and have materially improved in their general health. The fact that quarrying is necessarily carried on out-of-doors of itself makes for physical vigour.

Even where dressing is carried out in the immediate vicinity of the quarry, the sheds are frequently of such a character as to allow of free natural ventilation, and the ready carrying away of dust almost as quickly as it is formed. In many places the cutting is done quite in the open and with no protection whatever.

Brief reference may be made to some of the more important pathological conditions which, arising in quarry-workers, may be considered as ætiologically associated with the nature of their labour.

_Affections of the Respiratory Organs._--Lesions in connection with the lungs and air-passages have long and rightly been considered the more particular accompaniment of work associated with the production of dust. But in most forms of quarrying the amount of dust and its means of access to the respiratory tract must be considered so limited that serious pulmonary disease is quite the exception.

Where, however, in connection with quarry-works there is also extensive dressing of soft material like sandstone, or the preparation of material giving rise to such irritating particles as granite, changes in the bronchi and lungs are liable to occur. The bronchi then become the seat of an excessive formation of mucus, and it may be that a catarrhal process is established which may progress to a chronic bronchitis, to which will sooner or later be added the usually associated conditions.

The lungs may absorb more or less of the dust particles which, becoming deposited in the inter-alveolar and sub-pleural lymphatics, or arrested in the bronchial glands, give a greater or less degree of pigmentation to the lung (pneumoconiosis). Should, however, as is very likely, the particles of stone-dust produce marked irritation, the reaction of the tissues will lead to the formation of fibrous tissue which may not only lessen the function of the lungs as blood-aërating organs, but predispose them to the invasion of the tubercle bacillus.

Quarry workers would appear to be but little predisposed to tuberculosis, and doubtless the outdoor character of the work greatly militates against the liability to infection.

_Cardio-Vascular Disease._--The laborious and oftentimes straining character of the work seems to be influential, at least to some extent, in initiating and perpetuating states of arterial degeneration, leading to or associated with cardiac enfeeblement. It is very doubtful, however, if atheroma and cardiac involvement occur more frequently in quarrymen than in the sedentary and intellectual workers of the present day, in whom cardio-vascular regressive changes are only too common.

Indeed, even when cardiac and arterial degeneration is met with in quarry workers there seems reason to believe that it is more often due to alcoholic indulgence and other irregular habits than to the nature and character of the work.

_Cutaneous Lesions._--The skin frequently shows evidence of exposure to wind and weather and scars from the war with rocks.

_Digestive Disturbances._--The lack of suitable food, irrational indulgence in tea, or excessive use of alcohol, not infrequently leads to digestive derangements.

We learn that in consequence of dietetic ignorance in some of the Welsh quarries, constipation, dyspepsia, hæmorrhoids and hepatic disorders are common.

_Ear Affections._--It might be thought that the constant vibration from the use of the hammer and the employment of explosives might prove detrimental to hearing, but such seems not to be the case.

_Eye Affections._--Injuries to the eyes have already been referred to and are often serious, but inflammatory or other morbid processes in the eye are not of frequent occurrence. The action of the sunlight on some of the light coloured and strongly reflecting rocks may occasionally produce conjunctivitis, but, generally speaking, the powers of vision of the quarryman would not seem to be inferior to that of the ordinary labourer.

_Osteo-arthritis_, whatever may be the nature of its pathology, certainly affects some of the quarrymen, especially when getting into advanced life, but they are apparently not more liable than other labourers. _Rheumatism_, more particularly in its so-called chronic and muscular forms, may affect quarrymen, and is generally credited as arising from exposure to damp and cold, which of necessity during a considerable part of the year forms the daily portion of most quarrymen in this country. Dupuytren’s contraction of the palmar fascia and contiguous structures may also be met with.

_Septic Infection._--Considering the frequency of injuries and the unsatisfactory methods of treating the same, it is surprising that more cases of serious septic infection do not occur.

_Tetanus._--A quarryman, just like any other labourer, occasionally contracts tetanus, but infection is quite exceptional.

_Legal Provisions._--Very rightly the working of quarries is under strict supervision and controlled by legal enactments.

The chief Acts directing their management are:--

1. Quarries Act, 1894.

This empowers the application to quarries of certain provisions of the Metalliferous Mines Regulations Acts, 1872 and 1875, and the Metalliferous Mines (Isle of Man) Act, 1891, and arranges that the Inspectors under the Metalliferous Mines Regulations Acts, 1872 and 1875, shall be Inspectors of the Quarries under this Act. This Act applies to all quarries 20 feet or more in depth.

2. Metalliferous Mines Regulations Acts, 1872, 1875, 35 and 36 Vict., cap. 77, 38 and 39 Vict., cap. 39; and Metalliferous Mines Regulations Acts (Isle of Man Act) 1891, 54 and 55 Vict., cap. 47, make certain provisions which also apply to quarries.

3. The Factory and Workshop Acts, 1878 and 1891. These Acts apply also to quarries, and there have also been introduced certain modifications in the working of the same. Since 1898 brick and other works in connection with quarries have come under the jurisdiction of Inspectors of Factories. This explains why of recent years the number of individuals returned as engaged in work outside the actual pit, hole, or excavation has often been less than formerly.

4. Quarry (Fencing) Act, 1887. This provides that where any quarry dangerous to the public is in open or unenclosed land within fifty yards of a highway or place of public resort dedicated to the public, and is not separated therefrom by a secure and sufficient fence, it shall be kept reasonably fenced for the prevention of accident, and unless so kept shall be deemed to be a nuisance liable to be dealt with summarily in manner provided by the Public Health Act, 1875.

Actual getting of clay in case of brickworks is under the Inspector of Quarries, but in the making of clay-ware under the Factory and Workshop Act, the local Inspector of Factories exercises supervision.

Where washing and dressing of quarried material takes place adjacent to the quarry, the Inspector of Quarries acts as a Factory and Workshop Inspector under the Factory and Workshop Acts.

It may be well to point out that there is much need that the legal definition of a quarry should be amended by abandoning the depth limit.

It is also well to state that even in the case of small quarries, where only one or two men may be employed, and the stone removed only for such purposes as road repair, the place is nevertheless a quarry, and legal enactments must apply. Explosives may be employed only in accordance with the Explosives Act.

In many indirect ways legislative measures have of recent years accomplished much in lessening the dangers of quarrying. Thus the passing of the Workmen’s Compensation Act has led in many districts to much greater care and supervision being exercised. For instance, in some quarries it is now forbidden to bring alcoholic drinks into the quarries during working hours, although formerly it was no unusual thing to find a lad whose chief work was the fetching of beer for the workmen.

The Boiler Explosives Act will also, of course, apply to cases occurring in connection with quarry works.

The systematic examination of boilers is a measure likely to avail much in lessening the occurrence of boiler explosions.

The Employers’ Liability Act also applies to quarry proprietors.

With regard to further restrictions, it may be pointed out that the Quarry Fencing Act, which applies to quarries on unenclosed land within fifty yards of the highway might be well extended in its scope, so as to provide protection to the public from the only too common abandoned quarries.

It is also very necessary that those responsible for the conduct of a quarry should insist on the strict enforcement of rules. An abstract of the Quarries Act and Special Rules should be printed on enamelled iron and placed in a conspicuous position in the works. It is of particular importance that well understood signals be always used in connection with blasting.

_Prophylaxis and Treatment._--Although quarrying as now conducted must be considered a comparatively safe and fairly healthy occupation, there yet remains much to be done to ensure the carrying on of such work with the minimum of risk and the maximum of efficiency.

Unless constant care is exercised and rigorous inspection carried out, the results of ignorance and neglect are soon made apparent.

1. _Preventive Measures._--These may be considered as they are formulated and carried out by (_a_) the State, (_b_) the Employer, (_c_) the Workman.

(_a_) The State has recognised the risks and dangers incidental to quarrying, and legislation has to a great extent limited the dangers arising from neglect and ignorance. The annual publications of the Reports of the Inspectors and the occasional prosecution of law-neglecting proprietors give evidence that the enforcement of the law is in many districts satisfactory, but it may be freely admitted that further measures of control and increased activity in surveyance would do much to lessen the accidents still only too common in quarries.

(_b_) The workmen should be well housed and offered inducements to live rationally and act hygienically. Where possible, baths should be available. Education in the elements of hygiene should be encouraged.

(_c_) The workman can do much to maintain and retain his own health. His clothing should be suitable to the form of his work and the nature of the climate. His diet should be nutritious and appropriate to the laborious character of his work. Suitable recreation should be afforded, and temperance and thrift practised. Steps to provide against accidents, sickness, strikes, and old age will be taken by a thrifty and thoughtful workman.

A wise workman realises that his best protection lies in his own intelligence and experience, and no rules or superintendence can relieve him of his own personal responsibility.

2. _Treatment of Accidents and Ailments occurring in Quarries._--The workmen engaged in quarries should be trained in the methods of rendering “first aid” in cases of accident and illness, and dressings, bandages, splints, and suitable appliances should always be available.

In most large quarries a medical officer exercises a certain amount of general inspection as regards hygiene measures, often holds ambulance classes, and attends in case of accident or sudden illness.

JOHN BROWN.
T. N. KELYNACK.