This is a serious act of negligence that cost the innocent miners their lives. Had Mr. Blankenship not withheld those violations, and got the problems fixed, there would not have been such accident. Of course, "It's a profession that's not without risks and danger, and the workers and their families know that," says President Obama, "But their government and their employers know that they owe it to these families to do everything possible to ensure their safety when they go to work each day." Furthermore, this is an extreme case of intentional negligence, possibly criminal negligence, and I do not see any reason why the owner of this coal mine, Don Blankenship, should not be charged with 25 cases of involuntary manslaughter, or even be prosecuted for homicide. Coal can be produced economically and safely using industry and government standards. Then why get a drop of blood with every ounce of coal? Henceforth, to assure that such "inevitable" hazards and extreme recklessness of big people do not cost innocent workers their lives anymore, a good place to start would be to ensure that the regulations on the books are vigorously enforced. It is our duty and responsibility to make sure that the owners of such huge companies are not making anymore bloody money.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Ignorance That Lead to The Death of 25 Innocent Lives
As The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, April 7, 2010, the West Virginia mine where at least 25 workers died Monday in an explosion was written up more than 50 times last month for safety violations. Poor ventilation, high accumulation of combustible materials and inadequate protections from roof falls were the most oft-cited violations. The massive explosion that claimed 25 lives in West Virginia mine is believed to have been caused mainly by a build-up of methane gas.
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Wow I totally agree. When it comes to mines everything should be taken into consideration. For the owner to ignore warnings about this issue was not smart. In doing so he killed twenty five innocent people. How can he live with himself? I also agree that he should be charged with man slaughter. Working in mines is already considered one of the most dangerous jobs, so for him to ignore the messages did not have a good outcome. Kinda selfish don't you think on the owners part?
ReplyDeleteEnough is enough. When will we get serious about the safety of the coal miners lives? How many more people will have to die before we actually enforce the policies and get the violations properly taken care of before allowing the miners to work? I agree that Don Blankenship should be charged with 25 counts of involuntary manslaughter. Perhaps this will force other mining owners to do the right thing. Coal miner owners should also have a million dollar company paid life insurance policy payable to the surviving families in case of an accident causing the life of the employee while working. No, money will not bring the loves one back but it can relieve much of the financial burden off the families. The owners should ask themselves two questions before sending people down to the mines. Would I work in this mine? Would I allow my family members to work in this mine?
ReplyDeleteU.S. Government Blog is right in their post, “Ignorance That Lead to The Death of 25 Innocent Lives.” In West Virginia 25 mine workers were killed mainly due to people looking the other way when there were issues about safety. Safety is number one and shouldn’t ever be ignored.
ReplyDeleteWhen lives are at stake everything that is possible to prevent accidents from happening. There were plenty of violations that had been reported and no one had taken care of them, as they should have. That isn’t acceptable at all. These workers have families and they are just trying to pay their bills. They should know that going to work each day will end with them going back home to their families. It’s not too much to ask for.
There are safety rules and ways to go about reporting concerns; the problem is that workers are discouraged from reporting problems. They don’t want to be “that guy” and a majority of the time they will lose their job for reporting something that looks unsafe or that could potentially be a problem. They need the job and they can’t afford to be let go, so they keep their mouths shut and go to work even when they know it isn’t safe.
They’re right, “Coal can be produced economically and safely using industry and government standards.” Safety is the number one concern and workers need to feel safe and know they are still going to have a job after stating a safety concern. They shouldn’t ignore safety violations just because they don’t want to close down in order to look into the problem.