Adrien Lopez contrasts the San Jose mine rescue and the Deepwater Horizon disaster

Adrien Lopez contrasts the San Jose mine rescue and the Deepwater Horizon disasterAs the news of the Chilean miners’ rescue and the joyous chants of “chi-chi-chi, le-le-le, viva Chile!” fade away, the hard questions about the social irresponsibility of the company that failed to prevent the disaster in the first place must be raised.

Before the San Jose mine incident, BP was in the hot seat for the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Like the BP story, news from the mine dragged on day after day until the miners miraculously came to the surface and embraced their families once again.

US documentary maker Michael Moore seemed to sing the praises of Chile’s leadership when he commented on CNN’s Larry King Live: “The next time we have a hole in the Gulf of Mexico, we should call the Chilean government.”

There are obviously many differences between the two disasters – if nothing else, one has a happy ending. But they both have a social, economic and environmental impact.

Preventable disasters

What unites both the BP and the San Jose mine incidents is the sad reality that individuals and communities were affected. The disasters could have been prevented had there been better practices, ethics, legal compliance and of course, social responsibility. And in both cases, the fight is now on for compensation.

If living beneath the ground for months on end wasn’t already traumatising enough – especially knowing that it all could have been prevented – the miners were greeted with the news that their employers had gone out of business and stopped paying their wages back in September.

Social responsibility is about going above and beyond the legal obligations of a country. The law is just the bare minimum. The owners of the San Jose mine were far from complying with the law – much less being socially responsible – when they sent 33 men below surface without having a secondary escape shaft and with a track record of other bad practices, including injuries and mine closures.

Many of the first words from the miners – after all of the thanks – expressed their concerns about the health and safety conditions at small and medium sized mining companies. Chile’s president, Sebastian Pinera, has publicly promised to improve conditions and legal protection for all workers in Chile, not just in the mining sector.

Enforcing workplace standards

The challenge lies not so much in improving legal protections, but fully enforcing the already strong labour legislation that exists in Chile.

Like Deepwater Horizon, the San Jose mine will fade from the international spotlight. Another story of an irresponsible company will take its place – probably with a much less happy ending.

That’s why those of us really interested in promoting the integration of social responsibility in companies and organisations must keep asking the hard questions and have the courage to call out the “bad apples” before it’s too late. The future and credibility of the movement depend on it.

Adrien Lopez works as the coordinator of corporate social responsibility for the Chilean ministry of labour. She hosts the A-LO Show on I Love Chile Radio every Thursday from 18:00-20:00.