Link: Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) - An Exhibit on Mining Disasters.
Historically, large-scale mine disasters have stirred the fires of reform and provided the impetus for legislation to provide the miner with a safer working place.
Thus, it happened in 1907 when the Fairmont Coal Company's mine at Monongah, West Virginia exploded killing 362 men and boys. Congress reacted to the disaster at Monongah by passing and toughening mining laws.
In 1910, following a decade in which the number of coal mine fatalities exceeded 2,000 annually, Congress established the Bureau of Mines as a new agency in the Department of the Interior. The Bureau was charged with the responsibility to conduct research and to reduce accidents in the coal mining industry.
Again, in 1968, and less than five miles from Monongah, an explosion and a resulting fire killed 78 men at the Consol No 9 mines at Farmington, West Virginia.
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