the warning from the lamp was not always noticed in time, especially in the working conditions of the era.

The Mines Regulation Act 1860 therefore required coal mines to have an adequate amount of ventilation, constantly produced, to dilute and render harmless noxious gases so that work areas were - under ordinary circumstances - in a fit state to be worked (areas where a normally safe atmosphere could not be ensured were to be fenced off "as far as possible"): it also required safety