Mining Disasters: Why 'Never Happens Again' Always Happens Again

After every national tragedy, from the Columbine school shooting to terrorist attacks to mine disasters, there is call for reform. Blame and outrage mix with sadness, spurring politicians and regulators to reassure the public they are safe. Panels are assembled and investigations are launched in an effort to "make sure it never happens again."

Indeed, as Michael Reilly noted in his blog on the recent mine disaster, "Hilda Solis, the U.S. Secretary of Labor, promised a full investigation, stating 'Miners should never have to sacrifice their lives for their livelihood.' But despite extensive legislation and regulation, they do, regularly."

Solis's comment is the polite, politically correct official statement to issue following a disaster like this. It's also self-evidently false: Mining is inherently dangerous work. You have men in dark, cramped conditions deep under the earth removing minerals with heavy equipment. Any stray spark might ignite dangerous methane fumes, which can explode at concentrations as low as 5 percent. Coal dust is the other big mine danger—not only from breathing it in but because it also is highly flammable.

There is no way to make it non-dangerous, and some miners have always had to sacrifice their lives for their livelihood. (Though, to put the danger in perspective, other jobs such as fishing, ranching, and garbage collection have statistically higher death rates.)

Of course there is value in determining what went wrong and addressing it. That's why the Federal Aviation Administration investigates every aviation accident: to learn from mistakes. Procedures can be tightened and safety rules better enforced, but often there is simply nothing that can be done to prevent the tragedy from happening again.

Take, for example, the 2006 Sago mine disaster in which a dozen miners were killed. Following the tragedy, new safety rules were implemented. The exact cause was never conclusively verified, but the best theory is that lightning near the mine's entrance ignited methane.

If a random lightning strike was in fact what caused the Sago disaster, then there is simply nothing that can be done to prevent another similar tragedy. Accidents are unavoidable; they will always happen. Risk is inherent in any human endeavor, and complete security is an unattainable pipe dream. Evil people and random natural events will always find ways to kill the innocent, even in safer occupations.

The idea that steps can be taken to prevent future disasters is based on a faulty premise. The fact is that there always have been, and always will be, mining accidents. At some point there will be future Columbine-style school shootings, future terrorist attacks, and so on.

The effort to "make sure it never happens again" is well intentioned, but completely unrealistic. The victims of these tragedies (as well as their families and the public) deserve practical, real-world safety goals instead of unattainable ideals.