Scotland in the nineteenth century

9. Industry

Section 9.7: Industrial accidents

Major Majendie was required to report on the explosion which occurred in a workshop belonging to Messrs. Charles Brand and Son, railway contractors, of 123 Hope Street, Glasgow, under the Explosives Act, 1875. The accident killed seven people and injured two others.

One woman was killed when the detonators which she was carrying exploded. The inspector recommended that stricter precautions should be adopted for the conveyance of detonators.

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Five men were killed and one injured by an explosion which occurred whilst a cutting was being made through a hill for a new railway between Arbroath and Montrose. The line was being constructed for the North British Railway Company by Messrs. Waddell, contractors.

The accident took place when the Greenock Harbour Trustees were deepening the channel by blasting with dynamite in order to break up boulders, using a 40 foot long raft with holes in the bottom through which charges were directed. Four of the eleven workmen on the raft were killed and six were injured. The eleventh man, Michael MacFadyen, the shot-firer, was unhurt. After firing the shot in question he got well out of the way at the other end of the raft, but failed to warn the other men who were all near the hole. Proceedings were taken against MacFadyen at the Sheriff Court but he was found "not guilty" on the 23rd July 1881.

These explosions were caused by faults in large gas storage tanks. Considerable damage was done to nearby property.

Four of the cartridge huts in the factory were destroyed by the explosion and 10 girls between 15 and 20 years old were killed, and four others were injured. The factory had been established at Ardeer in 1871, when a licence to manufacture nitroglycerine and dynamite was granted by the Secretary of State under the Nitro-Glycerine Act, 1869.

A stove or drying-house at the gunpowder factory exploded, killing the manager of the factory and injuring three others.

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Two people were killed and three injured by an explosion which occurred during the construction of James Watt Dock at Greenock. Colonel Ford recommended that the contractor, Mr. John Waddell of St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, and William Kerr, his manager, should issue printed instructions for the guidance of men using explosives.

Messrs. William Sim and Co., who leased Crarae Quarry, were contractors for supplying paying stones for the city of Glasgow. The streets were paved under the direction of the Police and Statute Labour Committee of the Town Council. In 1886, the Committee had been in existence for 50 years so a "monster blast" was undertaken at Crarae in commemoration of the foundation of the Committee. The steamer "Lord of the Isles", which sailed each day from the Clyde to Inveraray, brought visitors to Loch Fyne to see the "monster blast". Any visitors who wished to do so were invited to land at Crarae pier and inspect the quarry after the explosion. Many of the visitors were overcome by the fumes of the gunpowder and seven people died from the effects of the poisonous gases.

On 1st November 1889, a mill which was being erected at Greenhead for Messrs. Templeton was partly blown down, killing many of those working in a nearby weaving shed.

The "Auchmountain" was a new ship, recently built and launched by Messrs. Russell and Co., shipbuilders of Port Glasgow and Greenock. It was moored off Greenock on the River Clyde when the explosion occurred. No one was killed but the ship was destroyed. Its cargo included gunpowder from Kames Gunpowder Factory, but the origin of the fire which gave rise to the explosion was unknown.

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The explosion at Ardeer resulted in the death of two men and the injury of two others. Those killed were firemen called when a fire broke out in one of the buildings. The inspector said that their deaths were, brought about by misjudgment on their part, as the building was of little importance and no lives would have been endangered if the area had been evacuated and the building allowed to explode. The company proposed to issue rules to the fire brigade to prevent them exposing themselves to unnecessary risk.

Two people were killed and two others injured by an explosion which occurred when one of the occupants of the house was attempting to thaw 15 lbs of dynamite in the oven. According to Section 5 of the Explosives Act, 1875, it was an offence to keep explosives in unlicensed premises. Furthermore, it was unlawful to thaw dynamite anywhere except in a licensed factory, although small quantities could be thawed for immediate use in a mine or quarry provided this was done by placing in a water-tight vessel in warm water.

When an explosion of nitroglycerine occurred in one of the washing-houses of the factory of Nobel's Explosives Company at Ardeer, six men were killed and eight others injured.