This is a list of mining accidents in the historic county of Lancashire at which five or more people were killed. Mining deaths have occurred wherever coal has been mined across the Lancashire Coalfield. The earliest deaths were recorded in parish registers. Ffrancis Taylior was buried at the Collegiate Church in Manchester after a fall in the "coale pitte" in 1622 and in 1661 or 1662, Thomas Hilton was "slain" at Bradford coal pit as was Thos Greene in 1664. Coal pit related deaths appear in the registers of Wigan Parish Church from the 1670s. In 1779 three "Poor Coaliers" were reported as being injured when the roof collapsed in a coal pit at Alkrington so that "their lives were dispared of..."

When the coal industry developed rapidly in the 19th century, labour and life were cheap. Men, women and children perished in explosions, roof falls, floods and haulage accidents. The Lancashire Coalfield, the seventh largest producer of coal in the 1870s, often had the highest accident figures. William Pickard, the miners' agent, championed the formation of the Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Permanent Relief Society in 1872 after a spate of disasters that caused great distress and hardship, leaving widows and families destitute.

Most fatalities were caused by firedamp, some caused by the miners who took the tops off the safety lamps that were designed to protect them because of the poor light they gave out. Some mineowners turned a blind eye to the use of candles in even the gassiest coal seams.

To regulate working conditions, the government passed Acts of Parliament: the 1842 Act prohibited the employment of females and boys under 10 years old and appointed a single inspector, but inspections were few and breaches were common. Acts passed in subsequent years led to the appointment of more inspectors and increased their powers to regulate how mines were operated and the working conditions and welfare of the miners.

After disasters the first rescuers were colliery managers and volunteer colleagues who descended into the pits to look for signs of life, rescue the injured, seal off underground fires and recover bodies while working in dangerous conditions sometimes at great cost to themselves. Apart from safety lamps to detect gases, they had no special equipment. They were the predecessors of the mines rescue teams. Mines rescue stations were recommended in a Royal Commission in 1886 but were not compulsory until after the Coal Mines Act 1911 (1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 50) was passed. In 1906 a committee of the Lancashire and Cheshire Coal Owners Association decided to provide a mines rescue station at Howe Bridge. Its trained rescuers were present at the Maypole and Pretoria Pit disasters. They also trained teams of men in pits throughout the coalfield. Boothstown Mines Rescue Station opened in November 1933 close to the East Lancashire Road. It replaced stations at Howe Bridge, Denton, St Helens and Burnley.

1830s

DateColliery LocationNotesDeaths 24 April 1830 Pemberton Colliery Pemberton An explosion killed nine workers. 9 May 1831 Haydock Collieries HaydockAn explosion at one of the coal pits in Haydock killed up to twelve workers. 12 May 1832 Haydock Collieries HaydockAn explosion killed up to six workers. 610 July 1835Ladyshore CollieryLittle Lever, BoltonTen men and seven boys were drowned after water from the River Croal inundated the pit workings. The colliery was situated on both sides of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal near where the Croal meets the River Irwell. 17

1840s

DateColliery LocationNotesDeaths 24 November 1846 Coppull Collieries CoppullBurgh Colliery was one of numerous pits and shafts that were collectively known as Coppull Collieries. Four years after the Mines and Collieries Act 1842 had passed into law, three of the nine victims of an explosion were girls. A collier lit a candle in the workings before the fireman had inspected them causing accumulated gas to explode. 9June 1847Kirkless Hall CollieryAspull near Wigan Thirteen men and boys were killed after a shot was fired causing an explosion of firedamp. 13

1850s

DateColliery LocationNotesDeaths 11 February 1850Gibfield CollieryAtherton The workers descended the pit belonging to Fletchers and discovered the presence of gas which they tried to disperse with their jackets. The gas fired at the flame of a lighted candle causing an explosion which killed five men and burned several others. 516 March 1850Haydock Collieries Rock PitHaydockThirteen men were killed in an explosion at Haydock Collieries' Rock Pit. Candles were in use in the pit even though the men had run away from a fire the day before. 1312 April 1850,Town House CollieryGreat Marsden near BurnleyThe pit was worked by Spenser Wilson and Company. Six men were working in the pit when one man went to check for gas with a safety lamp but before he signalled it was safe, another man removed the top from his lamp causing an explosion that killed them all. 69 October 1850Bent Grange CollieryOldhamButterworth's pit was in the centre of Oldham. An explosion killed 16 or 17 workers. The pit had a single shaft. About twenty five colliers were at work in the Riley mine (seam) when a roof fall broke the wire gauze of a Davy lamp causing an explosion.16 or 178 November 1850Haydock Collieries No.13 PitHaydockAbout twenty men and boys and four ponies were working in Turner and Evans' No. 13 pit when an explosion killed ten, injured several others and killed all the ponies. The men worked with candles and the pit was not routinely inspected for gas before work started. 20 17 March 1851Heys CollieryAshton-under-LyneThe pit was the property of John Kenworthy and Brothers. According to the inspector's report by Mr Dickinson, an explosion of firedamp killed one man and injured eight more, five of them subsequently died from their injuries. 622 December 1851Ince Hall Colliery Deep PitInce-in-MakerfieldShortly after a hundred men and boys descended into the 1,242 feet Deep Pit, an explosion caused by inflammable gas coming into contact with a candle killed 13 workers, the oldest was 65 years of age and the youngest were four boys aged 15. 1318 February 1852Roscoe and Lords CollieryRochdaleIn very bad weather, water burst into the main level of the colliery. The pit was 54 yards deep and the main drift 260 yards long. Some men near the shaft bottom managed to get into the cage and were drawn to the surface. Eight men were drowned in the rising water but two men and two boys in the upper workings ran until they reached the top of the drift but before the water reached them it subsided and they escaped. 824 April 1852Norley Hall CollieryPembertonThe pit's shafts were 480 feet deep. An explosion in the Engine Pit on a Friday night when most of the colliers had left the pit, claimed twelve lives, mostly boys aged 15 and under who worked as drawers. After the explosion all the workers were supplied with safety lamps. 1220 May 1852Coppull Hall CollieryCoppullThe colliery was the property of John Hargreaves. It had two shafts but the small furnace for ventilation at the bottom of the upcast shaft was seldom used. A shaft sunk after the previous explosion to increase ventilation was 210 yards deep and 360 yards from the Coppull shaft. The colliery worked the fiery Arley mine. The colliers and drawers had to provide their own safety lamps and some risked using candles. An explosion on killed 36 men and boys, the oldest aged 41 and the youngest a boy of 9 whose father also died. 3624 March 1853Ince Hall CollieryInce-in-MakerfieldThe Ince Hall Coal and Cannel Company's colliery worked the Arley mine at a depth of 414 yards It was one of a cluster of eight pits about one mile east of Wigan near the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Although it was a fiery seam, the coal was worked with naked lights and on 24 March 1853 an explosion killed fifty men and boys. 501 July 1853Bent Grange CollieryOldhamThe colliery was owned by Thomas Butterworth who, after the explosion in October 1850, had been told by the inspector that the ventilation of the mine was defective. A second shaft was sunk but another explosion killed 20 men and boys, 13 were suffocated by afterdamp and seven were burnt to death. 2018 February 1854Ince Hall CollieryInce-in-MakerfieldAnother explosion occurred in Ince Hall Colliery's Arley mine in 1854. An explosion of firedamp in the same pit had occurred in the previous year and the recommendations of Her Majesty’s Inspector, Joseph Dickinson had been followed. Ventilation had been improved but the Arley mine was notoriously "fiery" and explosions had occurred in other pits where it was mined. The explosion cost 89 lives, 37 of the victims were burnt and the rest died from suffocation by the afterdamp. 8911 November 1854Bellfield CollieryRochdaleThe colliery was owned by John Knowles and Company. Three men and four boys were killed by falling down the shaft in the cage when a link in the coupling chain at the end of the shaft rope broke. 72 February 1858Bardsley Colliery Diamond PitBardsleyAn explosion of firedamp ignited by shot firing at Bardsley Colliery's Diamond Pit between Oldham and Ashton-under-Lyne killed 53 men and boys. 5313 December 1858Yew Tree CollieryTyldesleyAn explosion of firedamp killed 25 men and boys. It was the worst mining disaster to occur in the town. 256 January 1859Agecroft CollieryPendleburyThe colliery in the Irwell Valley belonged to Andrew Knowles and Sons. Twenty men were waiting to be raised to the surface at about 9.30 in the morning. Four boys aged from 12 to 16 years and three men, the oldest 60 and the youngest aged 20, were in the cage when it overwound at speed and was pulled into the headgear. The safety catch failed and the cage plunged down the shaft killing all on board. 7

1860s