Crisis Management: Minimizing Liability and Enhancing Community Relations

?Twowinters ago, what had been a mediocre safety record at West Virginia?s Sago Mine grew dramatically worse. Over 23 months beginning in February 2004, two dozen miners were hurt in a string of accidents, some of them caused by rock chunks falling from the mine ceiling. Federal safety inspectors slapped the mine with citations 273 times, or an average of once every 2 ½ days. Despite this record, the price paid by Sago?s operators was light. Government regulators never publicly discussed shutting down themine and never sought criminal sanctions. The biggest single fine was $440, about 0.0004 percent of the $110 million net profit reported last year by the mine?s current owner.? -Washington Post, January 8, 2006