Being a coal miner is pretty hard work. The shifts are long, the job is tiring, and working conditions can be pretty dangerous. Still, day in and day out, these brave men and women go to work so that we can have the power we need to survive. And, considering the fact that nearly a third of the United States’ electricity is derived from coal, that’s a whole lot of men and women risking bodily harm, or far worse, just so we can keep the lights on.
Although being a coal miner will always be a hard job filled with many dangers, there is a way to greatly improve working conditions and offer coal miners the level of safety they so rightfully deserve. We’ll get into HOW to achieve this a bit later in the article, but let’s first take a look at WHY working conditions are so unsafe.