Canada went beyond erecting a memorial to commemorate 26 workers killed in a coal dust and methane explosion at the Westray mine 18 years ago. Canada criminalized corporate disregard for worker safety. It’s called the Westray Law. America needs its own such statute – an Upper Big Branch Law – holding corporate managers and directors criminally accountable for ditching safety for dollars.

Five are dead in Washington; 29 in West Virginia. Work site explosions killed them. Both employers, a refinery and a mining company, have been cited for safety violations. America must introduce new factors into the corporate profit computation to protect the lives and limbs of workers. One factor is larger safety violation penalties – fines and shutdowns costly enough to outstrip profitability. And when corporations consider fines just another cost of doing business, another crucial factor is the ability to charge CEOs with criminal negligence when their corporations flagrantly violate safety regulations – an ability that other countries have written into law.

Five are dead in Washington; 25 in West Virginia. Work site explosions killed them. Both employers, a refinery and a mining company, have been cited for safety violations. America must introduce new factors into the corporate profit computation to protect the lives and limbs of workers. One factor is larger safety violation penalties – fines and shutdowns costly enough to outstrip profitability. And when corporations consider fines just another cost of doing business, another crucial factor is the ability to charge CEOs with criminal negligence when their corporations flagrantly violate safety regulations – an ability that other countries have written into law.