The rate of fatal accidents in the coal mining industry is almost six times higher than private industry, and this had led the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to develop a new tool to combat that number.

"Safety Pays in Mining" is a web application that shows companies in the industry the cost of worker injuries. The tool offers information not only on the cost of injury claims, but a few suggestions on how that same money might be spent in other ways, according to the agency.