What were the working conditions in mines during the Industrial Revolution?

What were the working conditions in mines during the Industrial Revolution?

Working Conditions Miners had to cope with hazards regularly, including roof collapses and explosions. Starting in 1851, inspectors recorded fatalities, and they found that respiratory illnesses were common and that various illnesses plagued the mining population. Many miners died prematurely.

What was it like to be a miner in the 1800s?

Gold Fever Life of the Miner. Forty-niners rushed to California with visions of gilded promise, but they discovered a harsh reality. Life in the gold fields exposed the miner to loneliness and homesickness, isolation and physical danger, bad food and illness, and even death. More than anything, mining was hard work.

What were working conditions like in the 1800s?

Many workers in the late 1800s and early 1900s spent an entire day tending a machine in a large, crowded, noisy room. Others worked in coal mines, steel mills, railroads, slaughterhouses, and in other dangerous occupations. Most were not paid well, and the typical workday was 12 hours or more, six days per week.

What was the hazard of working in a coal mine?

A system to ventilate the mine and to provide fresh air to the miners. A special problem in coal mines was the methane (a gas) that sometimes accompanied coal, and which could–and too often did–catch fire and explode. Andrew Roy was one of the expert coal miners who migrated from Britain to work in American mines.

What was the working conditions in the mines?

There were stories of brutal discipline measures. Miners were paid by the tub and if their tub was underweight, they were not paid. There were fierce fines, and some miners ended a week’s work owing the money to the mine owner. Accidents such as roof falls, explosions, shaft accidents and drowning were frequent.

What was the political consciousness of coal miners?

Working in a coal mine did not inevitably produce a radical political consciousness. Where strong union organisation was present, it was the result of hard work and efforts to organise members focused on protection rather than revolution.

How old were children when they worked in the coal mines?

Long working hours, fines and low wages were rife in the workplace. Trappers as young as four years old sat all day in the dark, opening the doors for the coal trucks to pass through. Young putters pushed tubs and children as young as six carried coal for the hewers.