In September 2011, Gerry Gibson died when a roof collapsed in a pit at Kellingley Colliery, North Yorkshire. It is the third fatality at the site in as many years. This tragedy comes after four coal miners who became trapped in a flooded mine died at the Gleision Colliery in South Wales earlier in the month. The Health and Safety Executive is working with the companies that own the sites to investigate how the accidents could have occurred.

The mining industry is exposed to many hazards in the work place such as fire, flood, collapse and uncontrolled gas emissions. The UK currently has approximately 118 working sites including 21 licensed underground coal mines with around 3,950 employees. Both the Kellingley Colliery and Gleision Colliery are coal-mining sites, and figures released by RIDDOR show that 259 workers in the coal-mining industry were injured in 2009/10, with three fatalities.

The number of mining personnel killed or seriously injured in mining related accidents has gradually declined in the last few years and, despite the recent tragedies, the UK mining industry remains one of the safest in the world.