Mining Accidents Lead to ‘Troubling’ 31% Jump in Worker Deaths

More than three dozen workers died in mining accidents over the past fiscal year, a 31% increase that the US Labor Department’s top mine safety enforcer called “troubling.”

Electrocution, suffocation, and drowning led to some of the 42 mine worker deaths in fiscal year 2023, according to a recent government report. The fatalities at mines that dig out coal, metals, and gravel are the most in nearly a decade for an industry that has seen an influx of new employees.

“I don’t think there is just one thing that is driving it,” Christopher Williamson, the head of the ...