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ANNEXURE B QUARRIES REPORT BY THE INSPECTOR OF QUARRIES FOR THE NORTH ISLAND (R. C. Ruffin) Report for the year ended 31st December, 1946, for surface and underground work done in theNorth Island District under the Quarries Act, 1944. Quarries A total of 271 quarries were worked during the year 1946, being an increase of 22 compared with last year, while the number of men employed at quarrying for the year was 1,086, showing an increaseof 109 over the number for 1945. Output of Stone The output of stone used for roading, filling, hydro-electric-dam construction, and concrete products is 999,657 tons, being an increase of 22,068 tons for 1946. For agricultural requirements 366,476 tons of limestone were quarried during 1946, which is an increase of 64,814 tons over that for 1945 ; also, 275,748 tons of limestone were produced for the manufacture of cement, compared with 274,995 tons for 1945. The increase of 64,814 tons of limestone for agricultural requirements will not satisfy the demand imposed on the industry for this product; also, the figures of the output of limestone for the manufacture of cement show that the desired increase is not at hand. Accidents (fatal, 1; serious 7) Fatal Accident A fatal accident occurred at the Auckland City Council's Quarry, Mount Eden, on 31st May, 1946Walter Morgan was killed when he fell over a vertical quarry face 20 ft. in height. Serious Accidents At Otaika Quarry, North Auckland, Joe Josephs was injured on 26th February, 1946, when helost the first joint of thumb and forefinger, also two joints of the middle finger of his right hand. The accident occurred when Josephs, intending to destroy a detonator attached to a fuse, cut off a length of the fuse, leaving a small piece in the detonator ; on spitting the fuse he intended to throw it away, but held it too long, and it exploded in his hand. At the N.Z. Soluble Slags, Ltd.'s, Pukemiro Quarry, G. Koti, on 17th May, 1946, received slight concussion when an aerial bucket of limestone was tipped on him when he was in the holding-bin cleaning down. At the Wanganui City Council's Hilton Quarry on 31st May, 1946, William Jackson suffered slight concussion, shock, and abrasions when he fell 20 ft. over the face of thq quarry. Jackson had been attached to a rope when, after disengaging himself from the rope, he slipped and fell over the face. At the N.Z. Soluble Slags, Ltd's., Pukemiro Quarry on 24th May, 1946, Ted Manukau received injuries resulting in a fractured base of the skull when he was working on a bench preparing for drilling. A fragment of rock detached from a small fall from high up on the quarry face struck Manukau andknocked him off the bench to the quarry floor, a distance of approximately 8 ft. At the Amalgamated Brick and Pipe Co.'s No. 3 Pottery-pit, Avondale, on the 21st June, 1946, Tai Kaua suffered a fractured pelvis resulting from a fall of clay. Tai Kaua was buried from thewaist down. At the Auckland City Council's Mount Eden Quarry on 23rd August, 1946, John Moody suffered a fractured spine when he was caught in a slip of rock which carried him over the quarry face. Moody was suspended on a rope 30 ft. above a rock pile, otherwise he would have been instantly killed. At the Akitio County Council's Pongaroa-Akitio Highway Quarry on 25th October, 1946, J. C. Nielsen, while barring down rock, sustained a broken first finger of the right hand. Prosecutions under the Quarries Act, 1944 Four informations were laid during the year for breaches against the Quarries Act 1944 : On 25th May, 1946, at Masterton, a quarryman was fined for acting in the capacity of quarry - manager, he not being the holder of a quarry-manager's certificate, contrary to section 9 (3), QuarriesAct, 1944. On 25th May, 1946, at Masterton, a quarry occupier was fined for employing a quarryman as. manager of his quarry, the quarryman not being the holder of a quarry-manager's certificate, contrary to section 9 (4), Quarries Act, 1944. On 10th July, 1946, at Huntly, a quarry foreman was fined for failing to keep a daily report book, contrary to the regulations under the Quarries Act, 1944. On 26th July, 1946, at Auckland, a company was fined for operating a quarry without there being, a qualified manager in charge, contrary to section 8 (1) and (2), Quarries Act, 1944.

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