Disasters and Accidents

Mining tended to be a relatively risky occupation and there was a constant risk of injury or death. The Lethbridge Galt Hospital for instance became known for its treatment of concussions and broken bones largely because its doctors and nurses got so much practice in treating these injuries among miners. Regional histories tell of wives listening anxiously for the sound of whistles which signaled that an accident had occurred in the mine. In the 76 years of coal mining, from 1886 to 1962, 115 men died in Lethbridge from coal mining accidents. Several hundred more were injured, some seriously.

P19760210091-GM This innovative coal cutting machine removed the danger of using dynamite and other explosives to mine coal. The miners could now safely remove coal from the mines.

From the years 1906 to 1969, 1205 Alberta miners died of accidents considered reportable under the Coal Miners Regulation Act. Many of these fatalities occurred in massive explosions, such as the Bellevue mine explosion (31 men killed), the Hillcrest disaster (189 men killed), and the Coalhurst mine explosion (16 men killed). The Hillcrest disaster, it is thought, was caused by a rock fall that produced a spark which ignited methane gas and set off a dust explosion. A total of 189 men died, leaving 130 widows with 400 children. It remains one of the worst coal mine disasters ever to occur in Canada.

Coal mining was not only dangerous, but it was also a dirty occupation. Miners breathed and worked in coal dust throughout their shifts and did not wear masks or respirators. Black Lung (a common name for a form of the disease pneumoconiosis) was caused by inhaling coal dust, but was not considered a great hazard in Lethbridge mines. However, a 1948 Department of Health survey did indicate that another disease, silicosis, was a hazard in the Galt No. 8 mine.