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October 01, 2004
Mine deaths

Use common sense

FOR the second time in two months, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration may be fiddling with on-the-job deaths in a way that would make mine-related fatalities appear fewer than they really are.

Last week, 63-year-old Harlen Ott of Mannington died while running a bulldozer for Wilson & Wilson, a contractor for American Bituminous Power Partners. Investigators are not sure exactly what happened, but an autopsy showed that he had suffered some kind of injury, possibly caused by the machine.

In July, 27-year-old Brian Castle of Bob White died on his way to work at a Mystic Energy Inc. mine near Wharton. His pickup collided with the rear wheels of a coal truck on a company haul road and was flipped over an embankment.

So far, MSHA has counted neither man in the official count of mine-related deaths.

Earlier this year, the United Mine Workers suggested that MSHA attributes fewer deaths to mining to make the industry look safer. The UMW uses those statistics in its bargaining, so it has good reason to press that issue. But companies also have an interest in pressing the other way — to keep deaths out of the official count.

A worker in any industry can have a car crash or other fatal accident on the job site; but mining has a special and traumatic history. That’s all the more reason for MSHA officials to proceed thoroughly and honestly when compiling mine fatality statistics.

Mining fatalities are few compared to the days when communities lost hundreds of people at a time in single explosions. Decades of regulation have made a big difference. But coal mining is still a dangerous business. People are still killed, sometimes below ground, sometimes above. Even when companies follow every rule, there can still be a tragedy. Counting all work-related deaths does not necessarily imply that a company did something wrong.

The industry is not made safer by fiddling with the true number of deaths related to the work miners perform.