How much is a miner's life worth?

The Utah Labor Commission sets what benefits must be paid. Employers with even one part-time employee generally must participate by law, buying workers compensation insurance through a private company, the Workers Compensation Fund or by setting up funds to self-insure.

The Crandall Canyon Mine is insured through a private company, Rockwell Casualty of Pennsylvania, which declined to comment for this story.

Benefit schedules from the Labor Commission mandate a burial benefit of up to $8,000 — which may be all that a miner without dependents may receive.

Crandall Canyon victim Carlos Payan, who was single, may fall into that category or not even receive that because his body was not recovered for burial.

But his family might still receive more benefits. "If a miner's family was dependent on his income for living, it can apply for benefits," said Joyce Sewell, director of the Labor Commission's Industrial Accidents Division.

Of Payan, she said, "He apparently was sending money to his parents in Mexico and was helping pay for the school of a sister. We did tell them they would need to file an application, and a (commission administrative law) judge would make a decision."

Labor Commission formulas generally require giving those killed in industrial accidents two-thirds of their average weekly wage in weekly payments for six years. Also, the family receives an extra $5 a week for a dependent spouse and $5 each for up to four dependent children under age 18, or up to an additional $25 weekly.

The average wage for a coal miner in Utah is $714 a week, or $37,130 a year, according to the Department of Workforce Services. So a two-thirds payment of that as a death benefit would be $476 a week.

The maximum weekly payment allowed by Utah schedules, before the up to $25 additional weekly for dependents, is $565. Sewell said most of the miners killed at Crandall Canyon "were just about at the maximum of what they could get" for death benefits under Utah law.

Utah schedules limit the maximum that victim families could receive for the first six years after the death to $176,280.

Sewell said families can apply for benefits beyond those six years. Dependent children are eligible for benefits until they reach age 18. A spouse remains eligible indefinitely if still dependent on the income and if the spouse remains unmarried. After six years, benefits can be reduced by half if the family also receives Social Security death benefits.

"One benefit is the system is designed to start benefits immediately," Sewell said. "They don't have to sue and wait a long time or try to prove fault."

The benefit for mine owners — or any business owners — is they cannot be sued unless they intentionally caused the death or injury. "They cannot even be sued for gross negligence," Sewell said. "It is only if they essentially intentionally killed or harmed workers. It's almost an impossible standard to prove."