This article on the failings of mine safety reform has a beautiful quote from a Cali Democract.

But Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who co-sponsored one of those bills, thinks Congress has been too slow in fixing a crisis, now four months after 12 miners died at West Virginia's Sago Mine.

"When Janet Jackson had her wardrobe [malfunction], it took Congress 40 days to change the law," Miller said. "It's now over 120 days, and Congress hasn't done a damn thing about securing a safer workplace for these miners and for these families."

This map, is actually a demonstration largely of problems with agricultural and mining safety in the red states.



Occupational death rate (or on-the-job death rate) per 100,000 for the top 21 states. The point of this chart is to show that working conditions in many of the red states and quite a few of the “right-to-work” states could be significantly improved. The highest rate is Alaska at 14.7 deaths per 100,000, and the spread of the top five is 9-14.7. Compare to the states with the lowest rates: New York 2.9, Delaware 2.7, Connecticut 2.4, Rhode Island 1.7, and Massachusetts at 1.4 per 100,000.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation with State and Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries 2001-2002.