The number of workers in the industry changes over time. To account for that, and get a fair comparison over time, the number of fatalities / number of workers is what should be interpreted.

Based on the graphs, the fatality rate is currently lower in the metal/nonmetal mining industry, therefore, that seems to be the safer industry to choose.

The data is presented as a continuous line graph in Graph A with each year’s numbers being shown whereas in Graph B, the data is grouped into 4-year periods so it represents roughly four times the number of deaths. Scale matters, and it’s important to pay attention to it when interpreting data.

No, you can’t tell the cause of the fatalities. Most people looking at these probably assume they are the result of accidents (and they would be correct). Based solely on these data, many probably would risk being a miner because the overall fatality rate is fairly low.

Each time a federal regulation was put into place, the number and rate of fatalities declined. Mines are far safer now than they were at the beginning of the 20th century. This is due to all of the parties’ involved working to make mines and mining safer. If federal safety regulations were lifted, as some miners want, some mines would probably maintain current safety standards. Others would probably allow standards to slide to improve the economic bottom line.