What comes to mind when you think of coal mining? If you're like me, coal mining means living in obscurity and a heartless industry. Other words that come to mind are poverty and oppression. Coal mining is not a job you dream of or get a degree for. Coal miners don't choose a life full of danger and repression, they get stuck in it. Coal mining carries many dangers, not only for workers, but also for the environment. Coal mining and the coal industry have caused irreversible damage to our environment and killed innocent miners. In her book Coal A Human History, Barbara Freese says: “The commonplace mineral that built our global economy – and still powers our power plants today – also caused death, disease and environmental destruction. » (front flap) Today, coal provides more than 55% of the electricity produced in the United States (Cullen, Robert Vol. 272) Coal miners practiced one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. history before. government regulation. Many miners had to work underground more than 10 hours a day and 6 days a week (Cobb, James "Coal") The number of deaths per year is the equivalent of a Titanic collapsing every year in the coal deposits. coal country (Turkington, Carol) According to James Cobb of the World Book Online Reference Center, mine safety involves four main types of problems, including accidents involving machinery, roof and rib failures, gas accumulations and coal dust concentrations. Accidents involving machinery kill and/or damage more coal. miners in one year than any other mining accident. Mine machines are located in cramped and poorly lit spaces, which means that miners are twice as likely to have accidents. Accidents involving roof and rib failures can usually be avoided if a mining company has a roof support plan in place. For a roof support plan to be made, information such as entrance widths, mine geometry, number of pillars that should be left top and right and number of bolts that should be used are necessary (Cobb 3 out of 5). Gas accumulations in underground coal mines constitute another very serious risk. If certain gases such as methane and carbon monoxide are present at 5% or more in the air, they can cause violent explosions. Blasting in coal mines is the main cause of these dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.