National Coal Board Research Articles

<bold>Dermatitis and Allied Skin Conditions in Coalminers.</bold><italic>By</italic> D. M. Williamson, <italic>pp.</italic> 26, 5½ × 8½ in. <italic>paper cover</italic>. 4 plates in colour. <italic>Medical Memorandum No.</italic> 14 (<italic>second edition</italic>). Not priced. (1965) <italic>National Coal Board, Hobart House, London S.W.</italic>1

Journal Article Dermatitis and Allied Skin Conditions in Coalminers.By D. M. Williamson, pp. 26, 5½ × 8½ in. paper cover. 4 plates in colour. Medical Memorandum No. 14 (second edition). Not priced. (1965) National Coal Board, Hobart House, London S.W.1 Get access Murial L. Newhouse Murial L. Newhouse Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, Volume 8, Issue 4, November 1965, Pages 338–339, https://doi.org/10.1093/annhyg/8.4.338-b Published: 01 November 1965

National Coal Board Mining Research Establishment

National Coal Board Mining Research Establishment

Private Coal Mining in South Wales

A LT HOUGH the British coal-mining industry was nationalized in 1947, nationalization did not mean the complete disappearance of private coal mining in Britain. From the beginning the National Coal Board has licensed the private operation of small coal mines employing underground thirty men or fewer. One area where private coal mining has been particularly successful is the western part of the South Wales coalfield. There the small mines not only have survived nationalization but have flourished, expanding in numbers and output, making a profit in an area where the nationalized collieries have continued to lose heavily. Today private mines produce more than 10 percent of the total local coal output. By providing employment and exploiting a resource that would otherwise remain unused, the private industry performs a valuable service. Its success during the past sixteen years in competition with the nationalized industry, and the continued availability of readily accessible good-quality coal reserves, suggest that the private mines will continue to be an integral part of the geography of this part of the South Wales coalfield for many years to come. The purpose of the present study is to examine the factors that have contributed to their success and to comment on the part they play in the geography of the area.

Comparison of Two Symptom Questionnaires

In epidemiological studies of chronic bronchitis it is important that the technique of symptomatic inquiry should be standardized,1 so that the results of different investigators in different populations may be compared. During recent years considerable experience has been gained of the use for this purpose of questionnaires about respiratory symptoms completed at one interview with each subject.2'3'4 In the United Kingdom the Medical Research Council's (MRC) Respiratory Symptoms Questionnaire, was developed in 1960.5 As part of the National Coal Board's Pneumoconiosis Field Research (PFR)6 a short questionnaire about respiratory symptoms has, since 1958, been included in the standard medical examination.7 To date, the PFR Questionnaire has been asked of some 30,000 working coal miners, comprising about 95 per cent of the labor force employed at 25 collieries. The selected collieries are situated throughout the main British coal fields and the answers given are potentially useful for comparing coal workers with other populations. As there are appreciable differences between the form of the two questionnaires and the way in which they are applied, it was decided to carry out a field trial on a population of coal workers to establish a basis of comparison.

EFFECT OF QUALITY OF CHEST RADIOGRAPHS ON THE CATEGORIZATION OF COALWORKERS' PNEUMOCONIOSIS.

An investigation into the effect of variations in radiographic technical quality on pneumoconiosis reading standards in the Pneumoconiosis Field Research of the National Coal Board is reported. From the group of men for whom retake films had been obtained because of unsatisfactory technique of the originals, a trial series of pairs and triplets of films showing differing technique was assembled. A total of 778 films was read for pneumoconiosis and assessed for technical quality by four readers. The quality was assessed in terms of three separate factors, viz., density (at high, medium, and low levels), contrast (satisfactory and unsatisfactory), and definition (satisfactory and unsatisfactory). The intra and inter observer consistency of this assessment was estimated, and the effect of techical quality on the reading of pneumoconiosis category was determined. A tendency for lower pneumoconiosis readings to be recorded on films with unsatisfactory technique was demonstrated. A random 10% sample of the best available films (those on which routine pneumoconiosis readings have been made) for all men examined since the beginning of the research was also read for technical quality. Of the total of 4,188 films, 80% were considered satisfactory. It appeared that films taken on second surveys were, in general, of rather better quality than those taken on first surveys. The physical attributes of the men examined had some effect on the technical standards, the proportion of unsatisfactory films rising with increasing values of the weight/sitting height ratio and being greater in men with pneumoconiosis categories 1 and A and in the middle age group. The tendency for lower pneumoconiosis readings to be recorded on films with unsatisfactory technique is in contrast to the results of work previously published. Different criteria for the selection of films and the assessment of technical quality, and possibly differing reading conventions, make comparison with other work difficult.

The Fleck Report and the Area Organization of the National Coal Board

The Fleck Report and the Area Organization of the National Coal Board

CROSS-SUBSIDIZING: A COMMENT

XV. G. SHEPHERD'S article, 'Cross-subsidizing and Allocation in Public Firms',' evokes both admiration and exasperation. On the one hand, Shepherd is to be congratulated for insisting that the debate about the choice of allocative rules in nationalized industries should by now have been reduced to a series of empirical questions with numerical answers; and for the contribution he has made to our knowledge of the actual performance of the National Coal Board. On the other hand, in his zeal to refute earlier criticisms of the 'correctness' of the N.C.B.'s policy, Shepherd appears to slip into some conceptual errors, and to reach some conclusions not supported by his evidence. 1. Shepherd's major theoretical answer to those who have alleged that cross-subsidizing has occurred is to deny that the critics are using an appropriate criterion of efficient allocation: 'In several types of situations, cross-section patterns of profits and losses within public firms may be wholly consistent with efficient allocation.'2 Where such a pattern appears, applying private-market rules (i.e. attempting to maximize profits) would thus not necessarily reduce misallocation. This appears to be an impregnable theoretical argument. But if 'the market criterion' is an inappropriate one to use in cases where there are disequilibria or divergences of private from social costs, why does Shepherd go ahead to use it in his own empirical work ?3 Shepherd might simply be making the valid debating point that, although he does not accept the conceptual appropriateness of the profitability criterion, many of the critics of the nationalized industries have used the criterion, and so it is helpful to his case if he can show empirically that the critics are wrong even on their own conceptually inappropriate criterion. If that is the explanation of the structure of his argument, however, Shepherd must now go on to tell us what usable criteria for allocative efficiency he is himself adopting. At the moment he has left us no way of testing empirically such propositions as: 'The N.C.B.'s investment policy is efficient.' For Shepherd is apparently now inclined to explain any failure

MORTALITY OF COAL-MINERS FROM CARCINOMA OF THE LUNG.

The results are presented from an investigation into the mortality of miners and ex-miners employed by the National Coal Board, from a comprehensive survey of respiratory disease in a Welsh mining community, and from a study of the comparative mortality from lung cancer in Welsh mining and non-mining towns. These results, together with previously published data which have been reviewed, show that in Great Britain the death rate of coal-miners from cancer of the lung is appreciably lower than the national rate for men of comparable age. This occupational trend is not explicable by any of the factors which are known to influence the prevalence of the disease in the general population. In particular there is much evidence that the cigarette consumption of miners at least equals that of men in other occupations. The exclusion of this and other recognized aetiological factors suggests that the reduced mortality of miners from this disease is a specific effect of their occupation. This effect might be a consequence of the inhalation of coal-dust, for there is some evidence that the incidence of death from lung cancer is lowest among miners whose exposure to coal-dust has been greatest.

Regional Problems and Policies in the North-East of England

THE economic and social problems of the North-East of England are largely the legacy of nineteenth-century industrialization based on coal, iron and steam power. Coal-mining, metal manufacture, shipbuilding, marine and other heavy engineering provided the basis for the North-East's economic expansion, and by I914 these industries were employing approximately two-thirds of the region's working population. At its peak, the mining industry, itself, provided employment for over one-quarter of a million workers. This heavy dependence of the region on its basic industries was markedly reduced by the severe structural changes of the inter-war years, but problems of longterm adjustment still remained. The stimulus generated by war-time expansion and a decade of peace-time inflation, however, largely deferred these problems and served to disguise the extent of underlying weakness. Thus, in mid-I957, some 365,000 persons were still attached to the older basic industries of the North-East, this representing approximately one-third of the region's total working population. The contraction which followed occurred with almost surprising suddenness; and the industries which had experienced the greatest secular decline in the inter-war years-coal-mining, shipbuilding and marine engineering-were the most adversely affected [i]. Up to I957, the coal-mining industry in the North-East, as elsewhere in Britain, reflected the National Coal Board view that there would be an ever-increasing demand for fuel and power and a continuing shortage of coal. In order to maximize output and retain manpower, collieries which would otherwise have been closed were kept open. Owing to its favourable coastal situation and the shallow depth of seams in parts of the coalfield, the North-East was the first area to develop the mining of coal on a significant commercial basis, and it is now feeling the effects of this early development. Some uneconomic workings were closed in the decade following nationalization, but with the change in the market for coal which became apparent towards the end of I957 and the adoption of a more costconscious policy by the N.C.B., this process was sharply accelerated. By the end of I963 there were only I24 producing collieries in Northumberland and Durham, compared with 174 five years previously. Employment in mining, which had declined comparatively

Operational Research in the National Coal Board

OPERATIONAL research in the National Coal Board has come a long way since it was first introduced in 1949. During that time it has developed as a consulting service, in parallel with other management services such as method study and organization and methods, in a very large organization which itself has been changing with time. No doubt this process of evolution will continue and the future role of operational research will depend not only on the work of those in it but also on how the organization of the National Coal Board as a whole changes. This article summarizes the state of operational research at present and its history to date. Neither of these nor the future can be considered without first understanding the environment of the National Coal Board itself.

<bold>Coalminers' Attendance at Work.</bold> By a National Coal Board research team, R. B. Buzzard and F. D. K. Liddell. National Coal Board, Medical Service, Medical Research Memorandum No. 3, October 1958

Journal Article Coalminers' Attendance at Work. By a National Coal Board research team, R. B. Buzzard and F. D. K. Liddell. National Coal Board, Medical Service, Medical Research Memorandum No. 3, October 1958 Get access C. E. Stickings C. E. Stickings Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, Volume 7, Issue 3, September 1964, Pages 316–317, https://doi.org/10.1093/annhyg/7.3.316 Published: 01 September 1964

Operational Research in the National Coal Board

Operational Research in the National Coal Board

Coalminers' Attendance at Work: The Report of an Investigation by a National Coal Board Research Team.

Coalminers' Attendance at Work: The Report of an Investigation by a National Coal Board Research Team.

CONFERENCE ON CO‐ORDINATE INDEXING SYSTEMS

Mr Raymond A. Wall, Librarian and Information Officer at the National Coal Board, Coal Research Establishment, took the chair. In opening the meeting, he said the time was regarded as particularly appropriate to hold a conference on co‐ordinate indexing systems, because the Aslib Cranfield Research Project, now at an advanced stage, provided some interesting comparative data. As in all Aslib meetings, the present aim was to promote understanding and stimulate discussion, in order to generate new ideas.

<bold>The relation between pneumoconiosis and environmental conditions: An analysis of the results of the first series of X-ray surveys in the National Coal Board' Pneumoconiosis Field Research</bold> . D. Hicks, J. W. Fay, J. R. Ashford and S. Rae. Hobart House, London, S.W.1. March, 1961

The relation between pneumoconiosis and environmental conditions: An analysis of the results of the first series of X-ray surveys in the National Coal Board' Pneumoconiosis Field Research . D. Hicks, J. W. Fay, J. R. Ashford and S. Rae. Hobart House, London, S.W.1. March, 1961 Get access C. G. Warner C. G. Warner Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, Volume 4, Issue 3-4, 1962, Pages 309–310, https://doi.org/10.1093/annhyg/4.3-4.309 Published: 01 November 1962

Effects of Carbon Monoxide on Man and Canaries

Effects of Carbon Monoxide on Man and Canaries Get access T. D. Spencer T. D. Spencer Divisional Medical Officer National Coal Board , Ellers Road, Bessacarr, Doncaster Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, Volume 5, Issue 4, 1962, Pages 231–240, https://doi.org/10.1093/annhyg/5.4.231 Published: 01 November 1962

National Coal Board Research and Development Organization

National Coal Board Research and Development Organization

CORROSIVE COLLIERY WATERS COATING SYSTEM FOR DRAINAGE PIPES

At the Dunstone Pumping Station of the National Coal Board at Dunstone ‐ on ‐ Tyne, considerable expense has been involved through pumping highly corrosive water from six collieries in the area, Ready‐to‐use thixotropic epoxy based systems such as that described herein for coating the pipes are likely to find ever widening fields of application.

Features of the record management programme followed in the north‐eastern division of the national coal board

Features of the record management programme followed in the north‐eastern division of the national coal board

Two Studies in Reorganization

Investigates the relevance of alternative sets of organizational prescriptions in two British public corporations namely the National Coal Board and the Central Electric Authority. Significant feat...