Fans Raise Major Concern Over Smoking Safety On Gold Rush

The miners, adventurers, and explorers in "Gold Rush" know a thing or two about danger. Most of the time, "Gold Rush" takes place in far-flung locations that often lack most critical infrastructure elements, and the miners themselves usually have to blaze their own trails in order to reach their claims. This is why many locations around the Arctic Circle are great for mining the precious resource — it takes a certain degree of skill, technology, and drive in order to extract gold in these remote places, and those without these traits and resources are unable to engage in the profession. Needless to say, gold mining isn't for the timid.

Of course, anybody who has watched any amount of "Gold Rush" probably has come to the conclusion that many of those appearing on the show is usually a little rough around the edges, which is kind of to be expected when one has spent most of their time digging in the ground and away from dense population centers. Despite operating heavy machines in sometimes dangerous, secluded, and possibly bear-infested terrain, it seems as if some fans are pointing out a potentially lethal habit that many of the miners share, and these fans wonder exactly what kind of safety protocols are in place, if any.

Starting a conversation on Reddit, u/DigitalWombel asked what exactly the protocols are regarding smoking in the workplace after watching "Gold Rush," noting that they are watching from Australia and workplace smoking was banned there. This statement caused u/mulletator to reply, "There are no regulations regarding smoking at a placer mine in Canada. The thought of such regulations would be ridiculous to us. Placer mining is not subject to the same oversight as large scale mines or other industries, it's closer to a family farm in that regard. That's one of the things that makes it so attractive."

Some others in this discussion mentioned that smoking becomes an insurance issue, with u/Very_Slow_Cheetah telling an anecdote about their workplace and smoking, and how one of their co-workers tried to get smoking huts or cabins outside but it was completely denied. Besides the obvious personal health issues regarding smoking, u/Proud_Dust_8996 believes that there isn't anything inherently unsafe about smoking in heavy mining equipment, assuming that they aren't in an enclosed space. In response, u/bmh1990WT argued smoking is a stimulant and affects one's nerves, while also being an unsafe practice that can lead to distraction.

Although smoking and workplaces typically don't go together these days, these laws are written on a per-state basis. The mining profession also has one of the highest concentrations of smokers, according to the CDC, which notes that 30% of miners smoke. This fact highlights why so many of the stars of "Gold Rush" can be spotted smoking, and why there may be resistance to cracking down on the entrenched behavior.