Rosehall Colliery electrocution, 1903

Two miners were electrocuted in Rosehall No. 5 Pit, Coatbridge, on 11 September 1903 when the bell-signal wires became charged from the uninsulated power cables that ran beside them down the shaft.

Cause

The signal wires were charged with electricity from the power cables in the shaft, and the men touched them.

Contributing factors

Power cables in the shaft were effectively uninsulated and ran close to the signal wires, which could be pressed against them with three or four pounds' force; along the road the signal wires were within easy reach of men walking past.

What happened

At Rosehall No. 5 Pit a 550-volt three-phase generator at the pit head drove underground pumps through cables taken down the 173-fathom shaft. In the shaft the cables were bare copper under a thin woven covering that did not insulate, and they ran about eighteen inches from the galvanised-iron wires of the haulage signal, which along the road touched the cable covering in places. About 3.30 p.m. on 11 September 1903 the haulage man took hold of the signal wires to repeat a signal and was held by the current until a miner struck the wires with a hammer; the bottomer at the ironstone mid-working was shocked too. At the same moment, on the haulage road, three miners were walking in file to the pit bottom past wires hung three and a half feet above the rails. The first and the last man, Robert Bell and James Scullion, fell dead.

Investigation & inquiry

The inspector, with the electrical inspector Gilbert Scott Ram, examined the installation; Ram reproduced the shaft conditions at the Board of Trade. He judged the most probable cause to be a piece of coal falling from a hutch in a cage, having found that the cables could be pressed against the signal wires with three or four pounds' force.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• On 11 September 1903 two miners, Robert Bell, 45, and James Scullion, 24, were killed by electric shock in Rosehall No. 5 Pit when they touched signal wires that had become charged from the power cables. ^1,2,3
• A 550-volt three-phase generator at the pit head sent power down the 173-fathom shaft to underground pumps; the power cables in the shaft were bare copper with a thin woven covering that did not insulate, run about eighteen inches from the galvanised-iron signal wires. ²
• When the haulage man grasped the signal wires to repeat a signal he got a shock he could not let go of; a bottomer at the mid-working was also shocked, and two of three miners walking in single file to the pit bottom fell dead. ²
• The inspector, helped by the electrical inspector Gilbert Scott Ram, found that slight pressure could push the power cables against the signal wires, with a cage passing within a foot. ²
• The colliery belonged to R. Addie and Sons Collieries Ltd. ^1,2,3

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

• Cage (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s investigation: “…most probable cause to be a piece of coal falling from a hutch in a cage, having found that the cables could be pressed against the signal…”
• Haulage (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the narrative: “…they ran about eighteen inches from the galvanised-iron wires of the haulage signal, which along the road touched the cable covering in places.…”
• Ironstone (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…until a miner struck the wires with a hammer; the bottomer at the ironstone mid-working was shocked too. At the same moment, on the haulage…”
• Onsetter (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…by the current until a miner struck the wires with a hammer; the bottomer at the ironstone mid-working was shocked too. At the same moment, on…”
• Pithead (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “At Rosehall No. 5 Pit a 550-volt three-phase generator at the pit head drove underground pumps through cables taken down the 173-fathom…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Mining deaths 1900-1909, surnames S, part 1 (Ian Winstanley) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's mining deaths lists)
2. (secondary) Fatal accidents in Scottish mines, 1903 — Scottish Mining Website
3. (secondary) Mining deaths 1900-1909, surnames B, part 4 (Ian Winstanley) — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's mining deaths lists)

Record created: 8 October 2026 · Last researched: 8 October 2026