Party's independence. The Labour Party had to support the Liberal reforms, and was therefore criticised by revolutionary socialists and syndicalists. The Act was the main statute regulating mining health and safety in the period between World War I (1914–18) and World War II (1939–45). Under the Act the government could introduce new safety regulations without seeking legislative approval. The 1911 Act was followed by a series of acts to further improve working practices including the Coal Mines (Minimum Wage Act) 1912, Coal Mines Act General Regulations 1913, Coal Mines Act 1914 and Coal Mines Act 1919. The acts made working conditions safer and less arduous, and also improved productivity. Safety provisions A Royal Commission of 1886 had recommended that rescue stations be created, but they were not made compulsory until the 1911 Act. The Act required all mine owners to establish rescue stations, provide teams of trained rescuers, and to keep and maintain rescue apparatus. In 1912 the government revised the regulations concerning ambulances and rescue apparatus, and the training of their operators. There had to be a rescue station within of any mine with more than 100 employees. That limit was raised to a few years later. The result was a rapid increase in the number of rescue stations between 1911 and 1918. By 1918 there were ten Scheme "A" stations with permanent full-time rescue teams, and 36 Scheme "B" stations with officers and instructors who trained miners in rescue. Henry Fleuss developed a form of self-contained breathing apparatus that was used after an explosion at Seaham Colliery in 1881. The apparatus was further developed by Siebe Gorman into the Proto rebreather. In 1908 the Proto apparatus was chosen in a trial of equipment from several manufacturers to select the most efficient apparatus for use underground at Howe Bridge Mines Rescue Station. It became the standard in rescue stations set up after the Act of 1911. The 1911 Act required mine operators to guard against coal dust explosions, but did not dictate the approach to be taken. After an explosion at Senghenydd in South Wales in 1913 Home Secretary Reginald McKenna and the employers yielded to a demand by the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) for a special court of inquiry with representation from miners and employers. The inquiry did not establish the cause of the explosion but did find that the company had failed to comply with