Fatalities and Disasters in Coal Mining

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burgess J ; Gowrisankaran G ; He C ; Lutz E
• Description:
  Coal mining is a dangerous occupation. Economic theory suggests that coal firms and workers balance productivity and the risk of accidents, yet recent literature suggests that exogenous shocks may gratuitously stimulate both mine productivity and safety. We use fatalities and disasters as a source of exogenous variation to understand how coal mine productivity changes in response to such shocks. After a coal mining disaster, we find decreases in less severe accidents and declines in coal production for mines within the affected state, with the total losses in the state exceeding a billion dollars. We do not find that a disaster has significant effects on mine activity nationwide. After to a fatality within a mine, we find evidence for increases in productivity but no evidence of changes in accident rates. Our quantitative analysis using firm level production data is a rare contribution to a tiny economic literature on firm productivity and safety. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Coal Coal Mining Economics Mining Mortality Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Safety
• Keywords:
  Coal Mining Economic Impact Fatalities Mine Disasters Miners Mine Safety Mining Industry Occupational Accidents
• Publisher:
  Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Arizona ; OSHA Region 8 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Utah
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20054318
• Citation:
  2014 SME Annual Meeting & Exhibit (SME 2014): Leadership in Uncertain Times, February 23-26, 2014, Salt Lake City, Utah. Englewood, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., 2014 Feb; :129
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• NORA Priority Area:
  Mining
• Performing Organization:
  University of Arizona, Tucson
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20100901
• Source Full Name:
  2014 SME Annual Meeting & Exhibit (SME 2014): Leadership in Uncertain Times, February 23-26, 2014, Salt Lake City, Utah
• End Date:
  20260831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fce62940705a1f02d37ca061bf6a2e25eeca4f7693b8f47977c78a041e275527508579299e4084d9d63d7277da007c08ff2a8715fe9001c7012eec178994bba5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216908/cdc_216908_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 138.12 KB ]