Abstract: Tailings facilities are a major component in mine production and also a potential risk source.With the continuous development of the mining engineering,the accidents of tailings dams occur repeatedly.The tailings dam failure will not only cause the tailings spill out,but can destroy the ecological environment of the downstream area in serious cases,leading to enormous loss of human lives and property.Accidents of tailings dams causing heavy losses in recent years at home and abroad are listed,The causes are analyzed such as overflow weir,liquefies by earthquake and transfusion destruction and preventive measures in production are put forward.It is illustrated by examples that most attention should be paid to safety of tailings dams.