Os frequent breaks of tailings dams with catastrophic environmental, social and economic effects make it important to discuss the safety and risks posed by these structures. The disasters in Brumadinho and Mariana caused great indignation due to the death of mining workers and third parties living or otherwise on the way to the wave of collapse. The large number of lives lost could have been much lower if precautionary evacuation measures were taken. In the light of this, this work focuses on the need for the deployment and use of these measures as a means of safeguarding life and mitigating damage, and discussing the efficiency of civil liability as a mechanism capable of repairing the environment and inducing cautious and preventative behaviour in the operators of these dams.