Precaution In Powder Mills

Precaution in Powder Mills

Pocketless Clothing for Employees and Trousers Must Not Be Turned Up.

The danger buildings of a powder mill are themselves so constructed that not a nail head or iron in any shape is exposed, and the roofs are made slight, so as to give easy vent to explosions. The garments of the workers are pocketless, so that they cannot carry knives or matches, or, indeed, anything, and are made of non-inflammable material. Even the buttons must not be made of metal. No one is allowed to go about with trousers turned up at the bottom, because grit is collected in that way and the merest hard speck of foreign matter in a charge of gunpowder is fraught with danger. The entrances to danger buildings are protected by boards placed edgewise, so that when the door is open nothing in the shape of dirt can work in. This also serves as a check to any one who might thoughtlessly enter without having first removed his boots and put on the overalls that are kept just inside the door. Doors are made to open outward so as to enable them to escape the more readily, and on the approach of a thunderstorm the works are stopped and the operatives repair to the different watchhouses scattered over the 300 acres covered by these extensive works. Every week the machinery is inspected and the reports as to its condition are printed and filed. In the case of a danger building needing to be repaired it must first be washed out before a manner or other iron tool is admitted to it. When artificial light is required, as when working at night or in dull weather, the lights are kept outside, being placed on the window ledges. In the case of the works magazine, which is surrounded with water, no light of any kind is ever permitted near it. These are only a few of the precautions against accidents at the works. They are sufficient, however, to show how lively must be the sense of danger. Men in powder houses usually have an arranged plan of escape in their minds and at the least unexpected noise have not hesitated to plunge into the canal.