Health and Safety in Mining

Concerns over health and safety are important reasons for leaving the mining industry. Yet pull factors such as better hours and shifts may be even more important. A study of 1,384 US male coal miners from 1977 to 1982 is reported. In 1977, 86 left mining and changed jobs by 1982 to other coal mining jobs or jobs outside the industry. Neither push nor pull factors were more important for within-industry as compared to inter-industry job changing. Further work is needed to understand the inter-relations between health, safety and labour force mobility. More emphasis on health as a predictor of intermediate social outcomes is needed