Vocabulary Reflect More Fundamental Differences in the Relationship to Risk

Differences in Vocabulary Reflect More Fundamental Differences in the Relationship to Risk 

Did you ever have occasion to post the number one entry of the first left section, which is the bleeder entry  

Timber. Have you ever timbered the number one entry  

The apparently superficial differences in vocabulary in this exchange may reflect deeper assumptions about language and safety. Miners locate themselves in relation to physical objects, events, and conditions. Investigators locate these same objects, events, and conditions as two-dimensional coordinates on a mine map. Miners describe themselves in relation to the bleeder line. Investigators call the section the number one entry of the first left section. Miners say timber. Investigators say post. These differences reflect underlying differences in viewpoint that reflect deeper assumptions about risk and safety. The bleeder describes a critical component of the mine s ventilation system. The first left section describes the section in relation to the mine s plan of development. The number of the section reveals little about the ventilation system. As a result, it tells us little about the potential hazard or benefit of a particular location in a crisis. In a fire, for example, miners could use the direction of air flow in the bleeder to help them locate an exit. 

Both engineering jargon and miners vernacular expressions serve different purposes as warrants for risk decisions. The point is not that miners vernacular expressions are better or more accurate representations of risk. Rather, we must pay attention to the relationships and concepts that are lost in the rhetorical transformation from one set of terms to another. 

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