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danger inherent to work or misadventure

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Fig. 2.—Percentage of nonfatal injuries received by various parts of the body as a result of coal-mine accidents.

“The bureau has been able to tabulate 6,719 nonfatal injuries and classify them with reference to the part of the body injured, as shown in figure 2. It will be noted from this illustration that practically 30 per cent of accidents at coal mines result in injuries to the legs, whereas the hands receive 14 per cent...” (p 500)

illustrating Albert H. Fay, “Mine Accidents and Uniform Records.” Proceedings of the Second Pan-American Scientific Congress, Vol. VIII, Section VII, Mining, Metallurgy, Economic Geology and Applied Chemistry, 1917.  pp 494-520

In the section “Who is to blame for mine accidents?”, this —
“The placing of the responsibility for mine accidents is a delicate question as it depends largely upon the person who is making the report. There is a tendency in human nature to shirk responsibility and throw the blame on the other party wherever possible. It is difficult to obtain an unbiased report on accidents unless they are investigated by some disintered person...”

grim tabulated (and oddly inflected) statistics at p 501.
 

10 March 2013

tags: diagrams; assignment of blame; A. H. Fay, “Mine Accidents and Uniform Records” (1917)