Mines Rescue Memories – Selby Superpit

As part of ongoing training, to ensure competency, part-time Rescue Men had to attend a training session every two months. The training sessions were called Rescue Practices and were programmed so that every part-time rescue worker used the S.E.F.A. breathing apparatus 6 times per year.

S.E.F.A. Closed circuit oxygen Breathing Apparatus.

If a practice was missed due to holidays, illness or injury it was reprogrammed as soon as practicable to ensure competency. The training sessions were usually programmed so that the teams at each pit trained together.

One of the training sessions every year was the Selby Group Competition which included a rescue scenario and a question and answer oral exam.

Rescue competition log entry.

Due to the revision of training after the Lofthouse Colliery disaster in March 1973 a training session working in water was added and had to be carried out every 2 years. This practice involved moving around a swimming pool as a team with diving weights around your waist, and a black bag covering your helmet and facemask to ensure sensory deprivation.

The practice was designed to see what working in teams in slurry and deep water up to 10 feet in depth felt like.

Disorientation and breathing difficulty due to pressure in deep water were issues on this practice. Working under water would only ever be used to save life at a incident.

In Water Training notes.

Using Breathing Apparatus in extreme heat and humidity is very stressful when working in an incident underground. Every 2 years rescue teams were tested in the Rescue Station Hot and Humid chamber to ensure awareness of the dangers of working at physical and mental limits. The S.E.F.A breathing apparatus were set to high oxygen flow for this training session. The teams were set a training scenario early in the session. The teams then entered the chamber for the last 19 minutes at maximum temperature and humidity. The Captain of the team monitored the atmospheric conditions inside the chamber using a piece of kit called a Whirling Hygrometer and saturation / heat chart.

Whirling Hygrometer.

Photograph courtesy of Science Museum.

Temperature / Saturation working time chart

Continual physical checks ensured the team’s safety whilst the men carried out heavy exercise consisting of either riding a static cycle, shovelling piles of gravel, carrying water barrels or lifting weights in rotation. The men were very closely monitored for signs of heat stroke and exhaustion.

Training log entry for hot and humid practice.

Rescue men attended practices at collieries in the Rescue Station area to familiarise themselves with the location of all the other pits they may be called to in the case of an incident.

On arrival at a practice the Captain and the team were given a brief on the rescue scenario along with the mine plans needed. They checked and tested all the equipment likely to be needed and progressed to the Fresh Air Base. The pits in the Selby Rescue Station area were Gascoigne Wood, Wistow, Stillingfleet, North Selby, Riccall, Whitemoor, Kellingley, Hatfield Main, Thorne, Prince of Wales and Hayroyds Colliery.

Below are some of the Rescue Practices I attended at different collieries.

Practice at Hayroyds Colliery.

Practice at Thorne Colliery.

Practice at North Selby Mine.

Practice at Whitemoor Mine.

Practice at Wistow Mine.

Practice at Riccall Mine.

Practice at Kellingley Colliery.

The above Rescue Practices are some of the entries from my training log. These show the types of scenarios and some of the collieries visited to familiarise the teams. The Rescue Practices were designed to test the teams in very difficult conditions and over a 12 month period all the rescue equipment available for use is used as part of these training scenarios.

Many thanks to Katie Cavanagh and Stephanie Thompson at the National Coal Mining Museum for making my training logs available.

This is a little bit of my history and memories working as a Part time Mines Rescue Brigadesman at the Selby Coalfield.

I was a miner from 1979 when I started as an apprentice electrician at South Kirkby Colliery and I worked at 4 pits during my time as a miner. I have worked on the coal face and in headings (tunnelling) since 1980 aged 17.
I always knew about what a Rescue Man did after talking with my Grandad Sep, who was a Rescue Man at Monckton Colliery at Royston and worked for the Rescue Corp retrieving casualties from collapsed buildings in the WW2.
I also remember the Lofthouse Colliery Disaster and the Houghton Main Disaster as a young lad.
One specific incident in 1983 where a good friend of mine was killed at my first pit, South Kirkby, made me want to join the rescue team.
I was unable to become a Rescue Man at my first pit due to availability of spaces but was put on the list for training by my Colliery Overman, when a space came up. Due to the miners’ strike and subsequent colliery closures, this never happened.
When I transferred to Riccall Mine, in the Selby Coalfield, I finally became a Part Time Rescue Man after being put forward by the Colliery Safety Officer, who was also one of the Rescue Team Captains. I did my initial 14 days training in early 1994 at Selby Rescue Station and became a member of the Riccall Mine Rescue Team.

How did you become a Rescue Man and what do you think a Mines Rescue Man did?

After acceptance of application and before initial training you had to pass a very thorough medical including eyesight, hearing, lung function, x-rays for lung dust damage, mobility and fitness test using a treadmill and heart monitoring. This medical happened every year whilst you were a Rescue Man.
This was required due to regulations for wearing breathing apparatus.
An interesting fact, from before my time as a rescue man, was you had to have teeth in good condition due to having to bite on a mouthpiece rather than using a facemask.

You had to pass a Mining First Aid Training course including administering Pethidine (Morphine) pain relief injections.
You had to pass a Flame Safety Lamp gas testing course.
You must learn how to feed canaries (only joking)

Initial Training.
Initial training consisted of a rigorous 14-day course.
During the course you had to prove competence wearing Breathing Apparatus in all types of mining, confined space and rescue scenarios.

S.E.F.A (image courtesy of Anthony Appleyard, at English Wikipedia)

The breathing apparatus used was called a S.E.F.A. which was an oxygen closed circuit (rebreather) type, designed to last 2 hours (+20%) in good conditions.
In tougher conditions the Breathing Apparatus could be set to give higher Oxygen flow but only lasted 1 hour.
It basically looks like a stainless-steel box with 2 vacuum cleaner pipes and a face mask.
You had to learn how to use, charge, strip, clean and rebuild the set. You learned how to examine, test and maintain the set but mainly trust it with your life. This was done twice a day, every day, during your training.
Wearing this equipment gave you terrible headaches for a few days before your body became accustomed to breathing 100% Oxygen.
Included in the course was a wearing inside a hot and humid chamber where the trainees were tested to the limits of the breathing apparatus in extreme heat and humidity whilst carrying water barrels, cycling, shovelling hardcore, lifting weights and other high intensity exercises. The team captain monitored every team member with environmental conditions and oxygen gauges being checked and recorded. The heat and humidity were monitored using a piece of kit called a Whirling Hygrometer, which consisted of 2 thermometers on a frame. One had a wet sleeve over the thermometer bulb with the other one being dry. This equipment gave temperature and humidity recordings to decide the duration of working time. The time inside the chamber lasted 19 minutes, the maximum in these conditions. This was carried out as part of another training session, so we never had a steady day.

Casella Whirling Hygrometer. Photograph courtesy of the Science Museum

Let me tell you what a Rescue Team Captain did!
Rescue Team Captain’s needed to be logical, quick thinking problem solvers. They were expected to have a good local knowledge, be highly trained and experienced. Being pragmatic, practical and courageous was also a great quality.
One of the captain’s jobs before going down the pit was to check the lamproom barometer and log the reading. Low surface atmospheric pressure causes methane to migrate from the coal and the workings underground. This can elevate methane levels which is very dangerous.
His job was to ensure the safety of his team so theoretically he would not carry out any practical work.
He had to ensure the team had all the equipment needed before they went underground and that it had all been checked and ready to go.
He had to check his team’s B.A.s before leaving the fresh air base and monitor the teams oxygen use by doing gauge checks every 15 minutes.
He had to keep an eye on the team members to ensure they weren’t suffering ill effects.
He had to log the teams progress into the mine, using his mine plan, marking the way in and out so that they could get back out without running out of oxygen.
He made a written a log of everything they did and marked anything relevant on the mine plan.
He was the one who lead the team so he gave the signals, by whistle, to control the team movements.
He ensured environmental readings were taken to ensure safety of his team and this information was passed on to the next team at the fresh air base.
He listened to his teams brief at the fresh air base very carefully and annotated it in his logbook with the task they needed to do.
I once had a difference of opinion with a member of the management who was in the surface control room who was asking us to work in an atmosphere without breathing apparatus. The reason he asked me to do this was he had gas monitoring readings via the mine environmental monitoring system called The Tube Bundle System. The problem was the carbon monoxide readings were far lower than the actual reading in the risk area where we had to work. The carbon monoxide levels were rising so the decision was made to wear breathing aparatus.

Due to the Lofthouse Colliery Inrush Disaster in 1973, new training was needed involving using breathing apparatus in mine slurry and water. This involved working as a team in a swimming pool carrying weights to ensure you weren’t buoyant, whilst having a black out bag over your head and facemask. We had to walk around the pool in loops to feel what it was like trying to breath in your B.A. sets in the 10-foot-deep end of the pool.
This was quite a difficult test due to the water pressure and It felt like trying to breathe with a wide, tight belt around your chest.
Another training exercise involved using your Breathing Apparatus in a scenario where you were entrapped. We visited Kellingley Colliery for this training using some of the old mine workings to do it. The team captain, using a mine plan, had to find a specific point in the mine. Then we were told the roadway had collapsed behind us and the team was trapped. Your aim was to minimise your oxygen use to ensure it lasted as long as physically possible. This is achieved by turning the valve on and off and feeling for the carbon dioxide building up then restoring the oxygen flow. The team captain monitored everyone, with only one lamp being used, to ensure no one got into difficulty. Quite a responsibility you could say. We all survived thankfully.
During the training we worked together as teams of 5, one of us carrying out the duties of Captain for that day.
We used most of the equipment available for use in rescue work during the two weeks until it became second nature.
First Aid was a major part of our training. It involved uses of 3 different types of stretchers and carrying sheets, including drag stretchers, full body splints for back and femur injuries, Entonox and Morphine pain relief drugs , oxygen resuscitator / revivers, bandaging and burn relief. This was carried out either underground or in one of the four simulated underground galleries at the Rescue Station.
This was the reason rescue men tie multiple broad fold triangle bandages around the neck for quick deployment.
Casualty handling was a big part of rescue and learning how to get large, often injured men, through small spaces and around tight corners without breaking them was quite important.
Carrying heavy stretchers long distances was practiced. The trick is to change position regularly but always move 2 positions, clockwise at each change to opposite corners of the stretcher.
When reading mine plans the trick was to always orientate the plan to the direction of travel. Always mark each change of direction and every roadway junction with a chalk arrow on metalwork, props or girders to ensure you could retrace your steps and in the case of further rescue teams having to find or rescue you they would follow your steps inbye to your last point. On your way back out you always marked the arrow with a second point to show where you had been. Marking of position of injured men or bodies had to be annotated on the mine plan and in your log also.
Monitoring of gases during time underground was very important to ensure safety and for record keeping. The Rescue Team Captain ensured testing was carried out and all results noted on the mine plan and in his logbook. An electronic multi gas tester was carried called a Status Mentor continuously checking for carbon monoxide, methane, hydrogen sulphide and oxygen levels.
Carbon Monoxide 200ppm highly dangerous, Hydrogen Sulphide 100ppm fatal. Methane 5 to 15 % explosive and oxygen less than 17%
A piece of equipment called a Drager Tube Sampler was also available for extremely accurate measurement of mine gases including hydrogen cyanide.
On the last day of training when all practical exercises and written examinations were passed a certificate of training is presented which I still have. This was the day you become a Rescue Man and the Mines Rescue green holdall with your rescue helmet and equipment is allowed to be used in anger. A very proud day.
Once you are trained you were entered onto the register of men available for deployment to incidents.
You carried out 6 training session per year, usually with your pit team, of which you are a member. If you miss one you must catch it up, often with a team from another pit.
You attended a medical and fitness test every year which must be passed, or you are withdrawn from the list of available men.
Every three years you attended a methane gas testing course and first aid course to maintain competency.
The aim of practices was to familiarise yourself with all the mines in your area. This predated sat navs and mobiles, therefore knowing where each pit was situated is essential. Once visited they are logged in your mind, especially the more difficult ones to access such as Hayroyds Colliery which was on a small lane off road in Clayton West and Hatfield Main Colliery which was not in Hatfield but at Stainforth in the Doncaster area.
Keeping a record of availability of all the Selby Rescue Men was very important so all shift patterns, holidays, injuries or sickness, changes of address and telephone numbers were always reported to the main rescue station at Selby immediately. Every Saturday morning an alerter/pager test was carried out. If the alerter didn’t work at 0900 you had to call the station to report it. You always carried your alerter with you when not underground.

My green rescue holdall contained all the things needed to attend an incident as Rescue Team Captain.
Green rescue helmet with head straps and ear protection fitted.
Overalls and shorts,
Multiple undies, t-shirts and pairs of socks,
Boots,
Shin guards,
Gloves,
Finger tape,
Kneepads,
Belt with a spanner and knife,
Swipe card and leather case. These were issued at each pit when attending incidents and practices for recording entry and exit from the mine. A sort of modern pit check system.
Barrier cream for skin protection in acid/alkali conditions,
6 ironed and folded triangle bandages,
A pack of chalk for marking up underground,
A box of short pencils (so they don’t break in your pocket),
Captains Record Book with Breathing Apparatus duration tables,
Rescue Training / Incident Logbook with pens,
Two mechanical wind-up watches, one for wearing and the other kept in your pocket as a spare (No battery watches allowed). These were used to time all checks and logs whilst underground so having a spare was important. Watches were always set and checked with the Rescue Officer at the Fresh Air Base before entering an unsafe area.
A packet of BIC razors for having a dry shave to ensure a facemask seal. This was a must have when you have been working and you get a call without having had a shave for a week.
Lucky charm and photo of wife and kids (joking)
Doing well in Rescue competitions gave the Riccall Mine manager a great sense of pride. It was usually very closely fought between the Selby Coalfield Mines, Prince of Wales and Hatfield Main.

Riccall No1 Team
Selby Group Rescue Competition 1995

Riccall No1 team came a very good third place in the very last National Rescue Competition at Doncaster in 1996.

We had a good drink afterwards to rehydrate of course.
During my time I visited all the pits in my area and was Rescue Team Captain at Riccall Mine at an incident involving an underground spontaneous combustion fire, working to seal off H439s coalface and was on standby for Prince of Wales Colliery Explosion. I was a rescue man at three pits, Riccall Mine, Hayroyds Colliery and Hatfield Main Colliery before leaving to be a Wholetime Firefighter at South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue.