Reference:

Maag.C (2011/Sep). “Danger below.” Popular Mechanics

Danger Below



Summary:

In “Danger below” Christopher Maag discusses the disasters that happened in 1907 in West Virginia. Also, he mentions that the Monongah explosion killed 362 miners. After these explosions the U.S. Bureau of mines drew attention to developing the workplace safety. Moreover, during the 100 years since, the agency’s found a good solution to make safer miners and to reduce the number of fatalities of those miners. In fact, that led the coal mining fatality rates to decrease pointedly from the horrific levels of the early 20th century. On the other hand, Rick Honaker, the chair of the mining engineering program at the University of Kentucky, says that the policy governing mine safety has become stricter. In fact, the rates of mining death have become less than in the mid nineties, and the records showed there were only 40 fatalities recorded in 2010. Through the history, coal mines have less known as dangerous places to work. In addition, the MSHA gave approximately 175,000 safety violations and the income was 141.2 million from fines in 2009.

Reaction:
Mines are considered dangerous areas for workers, but nowdays there are many people who try to make them safer than in the early 20th century. In fact, the U.S Bureau is doing a good job to provide safety to the laborers. I think this is a great idea because it will decrease the number of deaths of miners. Moreover, I agree that they should punish any company or worker who did not follow the safety policy. In short, that will help our society to provide safer workplaces, which will affect good products.