The Business Of Mining: Profits Vs. Safety

We've heard a lot this week about mines that rack up hundreds of violations. But what does that really mean?

"They don't have... guards are missing on conveyor belts, they're on pieces of equipment where someone could lose a finger or an arm or get their clothing entanged in the equipment," says Ellen Smith, editor of Mine Safety and Health News.

In fact, according to the Dept. of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration, of the 31 fatalities at mines in the the U.S. so far this year, the majority took place above ground involving equipment that malfunctioned or vehicles that overturned.

With 324 violations, Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah has a better-than-average safety rate.

The same cannot be said of an Illinois mine owned by the same man, Robert Murray and toured by then-Vice President George H.W. Bush in 1984. That mine has racked up $1.4 million in proposed fines so far this year.

"They had a high number of citations for accumulation of combustible material. That's what makes mines blow up. It's incredibly dangerous," says Smith.

Safety equipment that's commonplace in mines from Canada to Tanzania is rarely used in the U.S. Things like two-way tracking devices for miners or underground rescue chambers stocked with food, water and oxygen.

Laws enacted after the Sago mine disaster in 2006 will help to change that. They're being phased in through 2009.

But new legislation being considered in Congress that calls for even tougher safety standards has been attacked by the industry.

"I don't think they'd say they don't want to keep their workers safe,"
says Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif. "They want to keep their profits up."

Mining is considered one of the most dangerous professions, but mine safety experts say it doesn't have to be this dangerous.