People who work in offices have little idea about the real world. Occupations involving heavy machinery are inherently risky. We can reduce but not completely eliminate this risk through investments in safety. We have actually invested enormously in safety and, so, have greatly reduced risk. The general rule is to invest in risk reduction to the point where further risk reduction would cost more than the value (large but not infinite) of the person-years saved.
The question is: (1) was the accident due to the residual risk, in which case it is merely unfortunate, or (2) was the accident due to a miscalculation of the cost of safety versus risk reduction. While the most recent industrial accident gets our attention, focusing on the most recent misdirects attention from all other safety concerns to a particular concern.
By the way, the rule covers both operator and machine error, and all other forms of error. Let’s say we’re talking of operator error: what is the cost of hiring more qualified workers, additional training, more supervision, and more fail-safe technologies (admittedly the last consideration blurs the line between operator and machine error).
You have to do this in competition with others, including the communist Chinese who care little about worker safety. At some point, we should consider under-investment in worker safety to be a form of dumping, against which compensatory tariffs are allowed by the World Trade Organization.
Obviously, this isn’t the stream of consciousness approach of Harvard Business School, if the video is representative.
The business class also wanted to make decisions before the US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) finished (or started) their investigation into the work site death.
Excellent post that sums up the realities of “real world” thinking.
You, and a few others are exactly right. Have an in-house investigation to determine the cause of death.
Sometimes it is because certain safety rules were not followed. I’d that is the case, a re-emphasis needs to be made.
If it was because of negligent supervision, maybe the supervisor needs to be disciplined or fired.
Sometimes the employee did something stupid, which is often the case, use his death as a point of emphasis.
Finally, mining is an inherently dangerous business and sometimes shit just happens that no one could have foreseen.