THE success of a group of South Wales miners in their high court claim of negligence by the National Coal Board in not doing enough to protect them from the hazards of airborne coal dust and related gas emissions in the ventilation of the mines, was a success for a pilot scheme to establish the principle of common law.

The figure of £1 billion is mentioned as necessary to settle all the claims of men suffering from severe bronchitis and emphysema, but the reality is that if that figure is true, the Coal Board is highly unlikely to settle these claims without a legal battle.

For in my experience as a very successful representative in the claims for common law, I know they will contest every case from a pit-to-pit basis and the people most likely to benefit from £1 billion would be the lawyers.

They will argue that dust suppression was, in fact, used in many pits by water infusion drilling in advance of the working face, by water jets on the shearer machines, and water sprinklers on the transfer belt points.

And many pits were excessively wet, where the coal and roof were saturated with natural underground water, dripping constantly on the miners, making working conditions almost unbearable.

EDDIE KELLY, Hobart Street, Burnley.

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