Coal mining is considered much more hazardous than hard rock mining due to flat-lying rock strata, generally incompetent rock, the presence of methane gas, and coal dust.

The latter includes only the accidents resulting into consequences on people, not equipment or machinery. Read CNN Fast Facts about mine disasters, accidents and deaths in the United States. Different categories of causes, types and consequences of mine accidents are briefly defined, and a 3-digit code is assigned to each category. Most of the deaths these days occur in developing countries, and rural parts of developed countrieswhere safet…

This is a list of the more notable mine disasters and is not all-inclusive. The most common accidents occurring in the mining industry are the result of poisonous or explosive gases or mishaps relating to the use of explosives for blasting operations. These can be combined to ultimately allocate a unique 15-digit code to each type of mine accident. ENTRAPMENT - In accidents involving no injuries or nonfatal injuries which are not serious, entrapment of mine workers takes precedence over roof falls, explosives accidents, inundations, etc. The yearly average in coal mining decreased to 30 fatalities from 2001-2005, though 60 to 70 miners still die each year in the U.S. coal and non-coal mining industry. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially from underground coal mining, although accidents also occur in hard rock mining. If a roof fall results in an entrapment accident, the accident classification is Entrapment. A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals or metals.