John Bartlow Martin in his case study exams the Centralia No.5 coal mine disaster on March 25,1947.

In addition to long working hours, miners paid for the supplies including open head flame lights and detonators. The miners were more or less like craftsmen using their tools and self-acquired skills to produce the maximum output. Consequently, the explosives led to numerous accidents leaving the miners injured badly and dead in many instances. Numerous workers (about 60 each year) were killed as a result of these explosions. The families of the deceased were rarely compensated. Occupational hazards, deterioration in health overtime, inadequate pay in the form of “strips” resulted in conflicts between the labor and the management.

By having knowledge of the chromium in the water supply, PG&E should have been required to let the people know that were affected by it. By not telling the citizens, they were withholding information that affected these people’s lives. Because a risk was created, consequences came, and nothing was done to prevent such injuries that did occur, PG&E should have been considered negligent.

The case study points out some of the deficiencies mentioned by Wilson in his article, specifically how political appointments lead to a weak administrative system and the tendency to corrupt the individual. Also due to the coal industry being so entwined with the state politics, the industry’s need for monetary gain came before the workers’ need for safety. Had there been a clear separation of politics and administration, it is feasible to believe that the incident at the mine could have been

There was some basis for holding the State of WV responsible for the Buffalo Creek Disaster (BCD) since a WV statute prohibits the construction of any dam or other obstruction over 15 feet in height across any stream or watercourse without a prior determination by the State that it is safe. The State of WV had never agreed that Dam 3 (which was 60 feet high) was safe. The State was at fault for not enforcing its own laws. But Arch Moore, the Governor of WV blamed the trouble on the media, the “irresponsible” media that publicized these attacks. Governor Moore qualified the mediatization “an even greater tragedy than the accident itself”.

A documentary called "From the Ashes" speaks about the employees, and communities that are supported by coal mines. In the documentary the director of Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, Mary Anne Hitt, goes on to describe a "life and death struggle" when mine layoffs occur. This means that the employees will lose their pensions, healthcare, and basically their livelihood. It was believed that the increase of miner layoffs was due to environmental regulations, but that was proven incorrect by the US Energy and Information Administration. One of the leading causes is the increased use of natural gases, and a statistical analysis over a 6 year time period proves that when natural gas usage increases, then coal usage

“Blasting itself produced immense quantities of mineral particles. The common practice of returning to the work face soon after the detonation of charges meant entering an area filled with particulate matter. (Derickson 3)” Also, as labors transported, unloaded, and cleaned the extracted material dust was inhaled even though they were away from the mine. So no matter what technique used the coal dust still made it in the air and into the miners’ lungs. There were no safety regulations in place about how long to wait after blowing up coal, no regulations about how many particulates in the air were safe, no mask or safety precautions and no mandatory venting. Although some of these things were easily usable to the safety the company felt it was too costly. “An elaborate system of fans and blowers was ‘too costly’, so the miner had to pay for the bad ventilating by ‘miners’ asthma’ and other ailments caused by bad air. (Derickson 4)” Basically the coal operators did not care enough about the miners safety to provide vents and things that could have helped the air quality.

violating the Simon Act. He was tried and found guilty by the Nebraska supreme court by a vote

This essay will explore what happened in Eccles mining disaster of 1914. There were only 1500 people in Eccles, a West Virginia town where almost everyone was a miner. We depend economy on the continuation of the coal mines. Eccles coal mine was owned by the Guggenheims and actually considered relatively safe in comparison to other mines. At the time it was the second most disastrous explosion of all time.

The Donkin Coal Mine; is planned to open in 2017 with the help of Ed Griffith, vice president of Kameron Coal, the Halifax based company (Jamasmie, 2015.) Kameron Collieries closer to reopen massive coal mine in Canada 's Nova Scotia

For future disasters, there needs to be more communication between different levels of government. Federal and local governments should work together to carry out the tasks they are legally assigned to. Rather than levels of government blaming each other for being irresponsible, they should work together and delegate tasks to help as many people as possible in an efficient manner. There needs to be significantly more effective leadership as well. Poor leadership was detrimental to FEMA’s practices during Hurricane Katrina. Preparedness is also essential in future disasters. FEMA was shown to be unprepared for Katrina’s landfall because of their incompletion of the Hurricane Pam project. Strategies to evacuate residents and choices on how to distribute medical care were undecided on, which is something that could have been avoided with proper and thorough

In the early twentieth century New York City was a hub of garment manufacturing. The majority of workers were poor, new immigrants who spoke little English and were desperate for money to keep themselves and their families afloat. At the time there were no safety laws, public policies, and very few unions to protect workers while on the job. It was a time when the market economy ruled unbridled without concern for the human condition or safety. In 1911 a fire broke out at the Triangle Factory building and no one notified the workers floors below. With one exit locked, no working fire escape, and no oversight 146 workers perished while onlookers watched helplessly as they lept to their death or burned inside the factory. While both the owners of the factory and employees may have helped in preventing or minimizing the disaster, the legacy of the Triangle Fire is that the fire could have been prevented or its effects minimized by the factory owners making specific changes.

Disaster emergency situations, like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, require the involvement of local, state, and federal governments. Accountability, efficiency and effectiveness are difficult to assign and measure when you have multiple emergency response efforts in place as these three ideals become largely diffused. As a result, there is difficulty in determining and measuring which organizations/individuals should be held accountable. In the oil spill situation it is hard to “point fingers” at one side or the other, but I do believe that both sides were negligent. It seems as though there was a reactive vs. a pro-active approach from both sides.

The reserve mining needed to have public intervention because of negative externalities of production. One of the externalities was the pollution of Lake Superior. This cost is external to the firm and external to the supply and demand price system. The externalities are not reflected in the supply curve and private business firms do not have to take the special cost supply curve into account. These private businesses not taking it into account are the reason the government has to get involved. The principle of perfection was used in the 1970s in LA. This is not a very good approach because cost is not taken into consideration.

I strongly believe that people should be educated about the December, 1907 3,000 coal mining deaths. In 2001 there were 42 coal mining deaths. All these deaths meant wives loosing husbands and sons. These deaths cause the lost of the bread winners in many house-holds; which, would later add to poverty and single parents.

This commitment from the top management is crucial to the success of any program, especially safety. Employees that observe managers disregarding or not reporting safety violations, create an environment where safety will be disregarded at all levels.