| The mining of Michigan iron ore was one of the industries essential to the transformation of America from an agricultural to an industrial nation. The iron ore mines of Michigan's Marquette Iron Range were uniquely important during the early period of industrialization because they provided an ore with the proper composition to produce the strongest steel possible at the time. Although greatly enhancing America's growing industrial prowess, this ore was produced at a very high social cost—the lives of hundreds of mine workers.; The underground era of mining, from 1880 to 1979, on the Marquette Iron Range claimed 957 lives. And in the late 19th and early 20th centuries the fatality rate (deaths per 1,000 employed) in the mines was one of the highest in the industrialized world. After 1920, however, the underground fatality rate dropped suddenly, finally approaching that which industrialized European countries had achieved by the mid-1800s.; To assess the social cost of underground mining on the Marquette Range, the causes of fatal mining injuries were first determined. The factors that decreased the fatality rate were then examined. A steady decline in fatality rate is attributable to the gradual improvement in mining skill and ability to speak English of the largely immigrant workforce, advances in technology, and changes in the contract mining system and mining methods.; However, the sudden drop in fatality rate seen in the 1920s results from managerial response to stimuli for change that developed outside of the mining district itself: Management felt the necessity to combat strikes and unionism, anti-trust legislation, changes in the employer's liability system and the introduction of Workmen's Compensation legislation, and intense public scrutiny promoted by popular journalism. These movements and policies forced employers to improve working conditions by promoting safety and thus decreasing the number of fatal accidents. To be successful, the methods used to achieve these goals had to be promoted by owners and managers and were the essence of what was called the Safety First Movement. The decreased death rate seen in the data and the increasingly frequent references to the Safety Movement and its role in reducing the fatality rate found in the Lake Superior Mining Institute Proceedings are evidence of its introduction and success on the Marquette Iron Range. |
