Dangers of Mining

Title: Statistics on Mining Fatalities
Type: Data
Date: 1916
Source: Minnesota Historical Society

Description: This table gives detailed information on fatal accidents that occurred at the mines from 1915-1916.

Activities:

1. The total number of injuries was higher in 1915-16 than in 1914-15. Does this mean mining was becoming more dangerous?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Not necessarily. There might have been a lot more workers in 1915-16, in which case you would expect more accidents to occur. We do know from other sources, however, that the beginning of World War I in Europe caused there to be a higher demand for workers and ore during the 1914-1915 period. This eagerness for larger quantities of ore more quickly may have relaxed the safety standards of the mining companies and allowed for more injuries.
2. From the occupation table, which job would you say is the most dangerous and why?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: More miners died in accidents than did workers in any other job. Brakeman was a close second in 1914-15, but many more miners were killed in 1915-1916.
3. Does the fact that more Austrians were killed prove that Austrians were not very careful?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Not at all. It may have just been the case that there were many more Austrians there, or that they were being given more dangerous tasks.
4. According to the first table, which mine was the safest to work at?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The mines look to be pretty equal. Most of them had only one death in two years. Only one of them had more than three deaths, then the next year it had none. Accidents could happen anywhere.