Why are there so many mining accidents?

[Shane for Wax]

As some know, a mining accident in the Ukraine has claimed 27 lives so far. I have been noticing that this isn't the first one in the last few years. So, as the topic states, why so many mining accidents that are claiming dozens of lives?

Is it that hard to learn from the mistakes of previous accidents? Mining I have been told is one of the most dangerous if not the absolutely most dangerous job in the world today. Shouldn't we be past this? Twenty-seven Ukrainians or hell, twenty-seven miners of any nationality should not lose their lives in the mines.

I know the answer is probably greed. But can anyone tell me why it seems like mining safety has not advanced in the past few centuries (Millennia?) since we first figured out we could find shiny things underground?

[A Reasonable Rat]

Well, AFAIK, mining safety has advanced by a tremendous amount. I recently visited the iron ore mine in Sudbury, Ontario, where they talked at length about the safety standards and technology they used. Being a first-world country with a powerful reputation to keep up, Canada's mines are probably among the world's safest.
Whether or not other countries choose to use those standards and technologies is another matter. Like you say, greed, but also poverty.

At the turn of the last century, mine accidents were far more commonplace, in our so-called 'civilized' countries as well as poorer ones, but they weren't instantly known around the world, or treated with such awe when death and disaster were nearly daily events.

Our ability to be aghast at danger and violence is surely a reflection of how secure we've become in our own safety. We wonder how people in less privileged countries can be so comparably apathetic to the horrible things happening around them... it's because they don't have the comfort or security to not be. And as long as there are people so desperate that they're willing to risk their lives for money, there will be cut-corner death-trap mines for them to die in.

[Random Guy]

All these so-called "safety issues" are really just invented to cover up the continued existence of Balrogs. The real reason for all these mining accidents is because inevitably someone will Dig Too Deep...

(I know, too soon and all...)

[Mlle Antéchrist]

You've also got to consider how many mining operations are going on in the world at any given time -- it's damn near inevitable that accidents are going to happen, horribly tragic as that may be.

[Shane for Wax]

I know there are a lot but it still feels like it's happening at much too great a frequency for all the safety there is supposed to be. :/

[TWoozl]

Remember in perspective, Shane, that modern media also gives you greater exposure to any incident at all. Things tend to look worse in perspective when you have mass-media as a lens to view information through.

[Amaranth]

Mining's pretty dangerous to begin with. Add to that the fact that few companies actually want to spend money on the safety available (nay, required), and I'm pretty sure you've got your answer.

Mining disasters are usually treated by the majority as "oh, that's horrible," and then three days later, they pretty much forget.

Kinda like when we had an explosion on that oil rig and two months later, people were back to "drill baby, drill."

[Shane for Wax]

It probably doesn't help I follow multiple twitter feeds that inform me of stuff as it happens (mine collapses, bombings, plane crashes).

I think I have an odd version of trainwreck syndrome.

[stormwarden]

I live close to the area where the Sago mine accident happened. My late great-grandma's farm was where they drilled one of the holes to try to get the miners some air. It is easy to forget that all the safety precautions in the world might not matter when the mine has a roof collapse.

[Shane for Wax]

The Ukraine accident was from... exploding methane? I think. Methane is not the most safe things to mess about with.

[catanon]

It's obvious a Forbidden Beast had shown up and they couldn't kill it because it was made of rock or something. Thus, they had to use a cave-in, though at the cost of twenty-some dwarfs. Cave-ins kills everything. [/Dwarf Fortress]

[askold]

Balrogs are easy. You can keep them away by leaving some milk on a plate. (They hate the smell of sour milk.)

Deep crow is the one you should fear.

[Napoleon the Clown]

Short version: Because mining is fucking dangerous.

Longer answer: Mining is fucking dangerous for a number of reasons. You're dealing with explosives (no need to elaborate on how that presents danger), you're often underground, which means cave-ins are always a possibility, regardless of what you do to reduce how likely they are to occur. A ton of mining happens in places with relatively lax regulations or poorly enforced regulations, which means that a lot of the time the people running the show just go "Eh, fuck it. This is too expensive." Individual employees will lack the ability to properly appreciate the safety regulations and why they exist. There's lots of heavy machinery. It's massively common. There's always a risk of hitting pockets of gases that are either toxic or displace oxygen. Accidents, due to many of the above, have a higher fatality rate than most jobs, and ultimately, there's just a lot of factors beyond human control.

[DarkfireTaimatsu]

Because

[Mlle Antéchrist]

Jul 31, 2011 3:30:33 GMT -5 Napoleon the Clown said:

Short version: Because mining is fucking dangerous.

Longer answer: Mining is fucking dangerous for a number of reasons. You're dealing with explosives (no need to elaborate on how that presents danger), you're often underground, which means cave-ins are always a possibility, regardless of what you do to reduce how likely they are to occur. A ton of mining happens in places with relatively lax regulations or poorly enforced regulations, which means that a lot of the time the people running the show just go "Eh, fuck it. This is too expensive." Individual employees will lack the ability to properly appreciate the safety regulations and why they exist. There's lots of heavy machinery. It's massively common. There's always a risk of hitting pockets of gases that are either toxic or displace oxygen. Accidents, due to many of the above, have a higher fatality rate than most jobs, and ultimately, there's just a lot of factors beyond human control.

This. It's tragic, and we should do everything in our power to prevent accidents from happening, but the unfortunate truth is that some jobs are inherently dangerous, yet completely necessary.