Mining in Pakistan is one of the most difficult professions due to the lack of modernisation in the workforce. Miners still have to deal with the lack of safety measures. This means that those who opt for this kind of work, not only are they already in need of work to sustain a livelihood but also have to put up with the risk factor involved in the work. Mining involves explosives as well along with working in the dark which can sometimes be very suffocating and claustrophobic. The incident that took lives of three miners in Quetta was the result of a gas explosion.
It shows how delicate the working situation is for these miners. And the lack of attention given to this profession to create some safety nets. To add insult to injury, the rescue teams that went into the coal mine to get the bodies also passed out due to the excess of methane gas present there. In such situations, it is important for the authorities to be equipped to deal with such glitches. Especially in the case where jobs are risky, the workers should be compensated according to that. At the same time, rescue teams need to be vigilant and have the proper equipment. If the working situation along with the rescue forces are still using archaic methods to get their job done, more and more incidents are likely to happen.
Such incidents remind us of the need of strong labour laws in the country to ensure that they are not only compensated for the kind of jobs they are performing but their safety is also guaranteed due to the modernisation of the method of work. In this case, the miners were from Afghanistan and that puts the onus of their death on Pakistan. There is a need to inspect working conditions and enforce the adoption of advance working techniques.