in the news # one

A coal mine explosion trapped 13 West Virginia coal miners approximately 260 feet underground on Monday.

Federal regulators cited the mine in question 208 times in 2005 and 68 times in 2004 for alleged safety violations. Ninety-six of the citations issued in 2005 were considered "significant and substantial" by inspectors from the U.S. Labor Department.

The question then becomes: What sort of teeth do these violations carry, and why wasn't this prevented.

With all due consideration given to the danger of working in a mine, the number of alleged violations issued by the U.S. Labor Department seems to suggest that such an event was waiting to happen. The violations represent an effort at prevention, however, it seems that they were ignored.

The West Virginia state government, along with the United States federal government, must necessarily take an interest in the protection of its citizens -- including the places in which they are employed. This is not to say, however, that the government has a right to encroach upon the business practices of an employer. There's a tricky balance between protecting employees' rights, and unduly interfering with the individual freedom of the employer. When an employer is able to shirk violations of personal safety, that balance becomes tipped in the favor of government action.

The government therefore, respectful of the local economy, must interject for the protection of the employees working in the mine. Therefore, other mines with possible violations of safety must be forced into compulsion. Something that could have been prevented is not an accident, and this, judging by the alleged safety violations, could have been prevented.
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God bless the families of the minors, and the minors themselves.

Addition: The miners have been found. The status of the miners, who have died, has been miscommunicated to their families. In the early morning hours, chaos is everywhere. I expect lawsuits shall be filed.