Monday, January 16, 2006

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The Sago Mine Disaster

Mine Safety and Health News editor Ellen Smith, who has been interviewed extensively about the Sago mine disaster, has put an MSHA and Sago Mine Q&A page on her website.

Wondering about the answers to these questions?

  • What was Sago’s accident rate and how does it compare to other mines?

  • What is the breakdown of Sago’s violations? How bad were they? Some industry people claim that Sago’s record wasn’t that bad.

  • How did the communication breakdown occur in which the world believed that these miners were alive?

  • Why did it take so long for the mine rescue teams to get into the mine? It was over 11 hours before they entered into the mine.

  • The Labor Dept. has said that it will investigate this accident. How confident are you of this investigation?

Check it out for Ellen's answers to these questions and many more.