CHILEAN MINE COLLAPSE

Chilean Mine Collapse

Chilean Mine Collapse

Introduction

Since 2003 there had been denouncing the insecurity in the San Jose mine and being required to close, after a long record of labor violations and accidents. But in 2004, the Court of Appeals rejected an appeal Atacama that brought the union following the death of the worker Pedro Gonzalez. In 2007, workers filed another complaint for the death of three miners. In recent years, workers Yino Ivan Cortes Toro and the latter a few months ago, suffered severe injuries in the San Jose mine.

Discussion

Mining in Chile is one of the activities with the highest rate of fatal accidents. According Sernageomin in the last decade have killed 373 miners. Atacama is the region with more accidents. According to the Superintendency of Social Security, 2009 concluded with a rate of 5.7 deaths per 100,000 workers, bringing mining as an activity with increased mortality. Sernageomin notes that between 2004 and 2009, twelve miners died in Atacama and so far in 2010 have been 31 accidents. But the region has only two auditors of the service, now in crisis (Forte, Hartnett & Sevetson, (2011). A study by the Department of Labor also found that among workers, the miners met the longest working hours: 51 hours a week (the national average of 48.4 hours). Another study, by the Swiss bank UBS revealed that Chilean workers are those who satisfy longest working hours in the world, paving the way for many diseases and accidents. In the Atacama Region 25,657 miners working in the country and more than four thousand mines.

Minera San Esteban, which operates copper and gold, produces 1,200 tons of fine copper per year and recorded revenues of over $ 8 million. However, it has a complex debt burden that compromise their position, placing the edge of bankruptcy. ...