Dying for Coal: The Struggle for Health and Safety Conditions in American Coal Mining, 1930-82

Abstract

T1his paper examines the determinants of fatal and nonfatal coal mining injuries in the U.S. from 1930-82. Three theoretical orientations are considered as explanations for the long-term secular decline in both fatal and nonfatal injury rates during this period: state regulation, industrial business climate, and resource mobilization theory. Previous research has pointed to the importance of state regulatory and enforcement activity as the key determinant in lower injury rates and has neglected features of the industrial business climate and the collective capacities of miners to organize effectively against unsafe conditions. The results of multivariate time series analyses suggest that these neglected factors are equally or more important than state regulatory efforts for the improved health and safety conditions in American coal mining. Several of the statistical results are illustrated by reference to the events surrounding the 1984 accident in the Wilberg mine in Utah which killed 27 persons. It is suggested that state regulation and enforcement of safety standards should be encompassed under the resource mobilization perspective. On December 19, 1984 an explosion and fire ripped through the Wilberg Mine in Orangeville, Utah killing 27 persons. About 90 others escaped through one of two open exits in the mine. The fire probably started when a bearing on a conveyer belt overheated about 5,000 feet into the mine and created sparks which, combined with coal dust or spillage, caused the *Earlier drafts of this paper were presented in 1985, at the ASTON/UMIST Conference on Control of Labour Process, and in 1986, at the meetings of the Society for the Study of Social Problems. I thank Jong Soo Do for his assistance in gathering much of the data for this analysis. I also thank several people for their generous comments on earlier drafts: Daniel Cornfield, Wllliam Form, Larry Griffin, Robert Kaufman, Laurie Krivo, Toby Parcel, Charles Perrow, Beth Rubin, Verta Taylor, Charles Tilly, and two anonymous referees. I, of course, remain responsible for all errors of omission and commission. Address correspondence to the author, Sociology Department, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 ? 1987 The University of North Carolina Press