No Wyoming Miner Deaths in 2016, Low Rates Across the Country
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — No miners died in Wyoming in 2016 and the country also recorded record-low fatality rates.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that 26 miners died on the job in 2016 compared with 29 the previous year. Those are the only two years mining deaths have been below 30.
No coal miners have died in Wyoming in two years. Four died on the job between 2013 and 2014.
Since 2014, coal employment figures had dropped across the country as coal faced competition with other cheap fuels. More than 500 miners lost their jobs in Wyoming in 2016.