First, doesn't this headline reek of irony? After all, if mine safety had come that far, the whole Chilean mine disaster wouldn't have happened.
To cheers, chants and tears of joy, Florencio Avalos became the first of 33 trapped Chilean miners to escape his underground prison after a record time underground, as rescuers hauled him to the surface at 12:12 a.m. local time in a metal cage less than 22 inches across.
First, yay for early successes. The original estimate for rescue was Christmas, so I’m sure this is a relief for so many people – not the least of which being those who are funding this rescue effort. (Hey, you know, in our capitalistic society…)
I am so glad it was not me trapped in that mine. Nevermind the fact I get twitchy and mean when I go too long between showers (if my hair gets greasy, look out, I’m not a happy person to be around) – but my claustrophobia combined with my traditional hatred of people I work with would not make me a good person to be around. (Side note: this intense hatred of people I work with does not involve most people from Lexmark Info Dev – so don’t get offended ID peeps, I miss you all. If I had to be trapped in a mine with any coworkers, it would be you. But please don’t be offended when I say I hope to God it doesn’t come to that.)
Anyway, so being trapped in a small room with 30+ other people is enough to make me freak out, in and of itself. Now, the idea of being pulled through a few hundred feet of solid rock in a cage that is only 22 inches wide, that’s enough to make me lose my ever-loving mind. The fear of being in that cage, that might get stuck at any point during my journey to the surface, yeah, that might be too much for me. You best blast a hole so I can walk on out, or send down some cables with a TV with Food Network and high-speed internet (does Amazon deliver to a Chilean mine?) cause I ain’t leaving.
"Hopefully no one ever again has to do anything like this," said Alonso Contreras, a cousin of Barrios. "Never again."
Well, no duh. I would be surprised if the quote was “I can’t wait until we have to go through this again.”
“The situation illustrates the need for stronger regulations and enforcement of existing regulations in the mining sector across Latin America” and the globe, says Mr. Slack.
Okay, grammar Nazi note. Notice the quotes actually end at Latin America. Which means “the globe” was added by the writer and not Mr. Slack. Hmmmm. Paraphrasing, and treating quotes in this manner is completely fine, I’ve done it myself, but seriously, something like this seems like it should have been the whole quote. Which means either the quoter is a moron because he only feels these regulations belong in Latin America, or the writer is because they didn’t find a better way to paraphrase the quote to make it encompass worldwide mining - but, you know, it’s whatever.
Many mining experts point out that, while more hazardous than most jobs, mining safety has increased considerably over the decades. Today, they say, workers are more likely to be hit by a car on the way to work than killed while descending deep into the earth to extract iron ore, coal, and precious metals.
Yeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt, but I don’t really want to put myself in a situation in which that’s a possibility. I’m just saying.
The mindset in the past was that “you might get killed,” says Michael Nelson, an associate professor and chair of mining and engineering at the University of Utah. “Fifty years ago, a guy died, and everyone said, 'That´s too bad.' And the company would send a check to the widow.”
But in the past ten years the mentality has shifted so much that no accident is acceptable, he says, reflecting changes in societal expectations, worker rights, and the very high costs of fatalities today, including settlements and wrongful death lawsuits.
Here’s a shocker – in most people’s heads (particularly the widows who received said checks in the “that’s too bad” situations), no accident has ever been acceptable. It’s just now we live in this insane litigious society that people will sue if you look at them wrong. It’s not a matter of the accidents are all of the sudden unacceptable – the pending lawsuits are what’s unacceptable.
Often the standards for safety and emergency response depend on the employer.
Someone please tell me they were shocked to read this sentence. I mean, duh.
For the largest companies in the world, safety standards are high. For the smaller and medium-sized companies, such as at the San Jose mine, the standards are not always up to par.
“Safety standards vary greatly in mining,” says John Tilton, research professor at the Colorado School of Mines. “The large multinational mining companies have very high standards. Small and medium-sized mines often do not have the economics that allow them that luxury.”
So, yeah, here’s where you say – adhere to the safety standards or get shut down. It shouldn’t matter how large your mine is – basic safety is basic safety. It seems unfair that a mine with 1,000 employees can have certain types of precautions, but those with 10 miners don’t. The possibility of death is there regardless of how many employees you have. How hard is it to pass a law to this effect? (Yes, there are economic factors to consider here. But if you can’t afford the safety of your employees than you can’t afford to be in business. Plain and simple.)
Standards have increased greatly over the years, though.
Again, tell me if you’re shocked by this statement. Technology has increased greatly over the years, I should hope the standards have increased along with it.
In Chile, the number of incapacitating injuries per million work hours fell from 33 in 1989 to 4 last year, according to the country's mining regulator.
Yeah, well, I think it might be back up to at least 33 in 2010. After all, that pain and suffering these miners endured might lead to panic attacks and other anxiety disorders preventing them from doing their jobs and therefore incapacitating them.
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With that, I promise this is my last post on the Chilean miners. Unless, of course, there’s a story that comes out that one of the miners is leaving his wife for another miner he was trapped with for a couple months.
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