FACING DOWN NATURE: MANAGING THE RISK OF LANDSLIDES IN FRENCH COAL MINES (18TH-20TH CENTURIES)

Abstract

Despite what is commonly believed, disasters – and in particular those linked to firedamp explosions – are not the most dangerous aspects of coal mining. Landslides of barren rock and falling blocks of coal are much more deadly and they pose a daily risk to the lives of the workers underground. Since the eighteenth century, coal mines have been doing their best to mitigate this risk as the unpredictability and suddenness of landslides mean that the risk cannot be completely avoided. For nearly two centuries, therefore, coal mines having been implementing measures to reduce the accidents caused by such landslides. In France, applying the regulations governing the exploitation of mines meant both collaborating with the State in addition to initiatives to establish industry-driven regulations for working underground. The coal mines thus developed their own techniques for supporting the galleries. These initially involved moving from using coal pillars to wooden supports, and, in the second half of the twentieth century, supporting structures made of metal struts were adopted in combination with mechanisation. The management of landslides also contributed to the evolution of operating methods that sought to reduce their risk. Mining companies also increas-ingly sought to organize the operation of their sites in a way that ensured the safety of workers. In the post-Second World War period, the coal mines introduced training for workers and enhanced prevention techniques to reduce accidents in the workplace.