Accidental deaths in coal mines doubled from the previous year in  2017, according to the most recently available statistics from the Mine  Safety and Health Administration. A more than 100 percent jump in fatalities — from seven last year to  14 in 2017 — does not correspond even remotely to the 3.7 percent  increase in available industry jobs over last year. By comparison, in 2015, the number of mining jobs was 69,000 — 30 percent more than today — but the number of deaths among those jobs topped off at 12.