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This study investigates the correlation between previous coal mine safety policies and accidents in China. Data on coal mine accidents and government regulatory information from 2008 to 2021 are collected. The characteristics of coal mine accidents are analyzed, and safety policy indexes are identified. An ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model is established to quantitatively analyze the correlation between accidents and safety policy. The study finds that safety policies have some impact on accident occurrence in coal mines. Although there has been a decrease in accidents and deaths over time, higher mortality rates are observed during periods of increased production intensity and on weekends. Gas accidents are the most common, followed by roof and flood accidents. The study concludes that national safety policies with wider coverage and a stronger system are effective in preventing accidents, but caution should be exercised to avoid reduced vigilance with decreasing death rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. In safety management, near-miss incident (NMI) reporting has been recognised as an essential practice in the prevention of mining accidents. This research aims to investigate near-miss incidents in Kosovo mining operations based on previous researches and in-situ surveys. Methods. For this purpose, both qualitative and quantitative methods were used as an observation tool, with 115 questionnaires randomly assigned among the employees at mining companies. To analyse collected data, the Excel Spread-Sheet and SPSS software were used. The survey was conducted to get basic information on the number of near-miss incidents, how they occurred and were brought to the light, as well as to reveal their similarity with mining accidents that happened during mining operations in Kosovo. Findings. The research brings to the light that mining activities related to production are the most predominant sources of near-miss incidents. From the qualitative observation approach in different mining companies, it has been found that the majority of mines do not report even in an informal way about near-miss incidents that the employees experience. Originality. The legislative framework of Kosovo does not require a formal reporting on near-miss incidents. Therefore, the present research aims not only to develop proper legislation, but also to comprehensively study the main factors causing near-miss incidents in order to improve mining safety. Increasing the transparency of data on near-miss incidents and their publication should facilitate research work related to improving the safety of mining operations, in other words, the prevention of mining accidents. Practical implications. Apart from the literature review and questionnaire survey conducted in two underground hard rock mines and one surface coal mine, owned and operated by Kosovo authorities, this research attempts to examine sources, influencing factors associated with near-miss incidents, as well as to analyse the best practices of NMI reporting in order to enhance mining safety management in mining sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Mining, especially underground coal mining, has always been a hazardous occupation. Injuries, including those that are fatal, are a major occupational risk that all miners have to face. OBJECTIVE: Despite the fact that all workers are aware of the risks, efforts must be made to increase their safety through the implementation of preventive measures. METHODS: This retrospective study includes injury data from all nine Serbian coal mines over a 16-year period, from 2000 to 2016. All injury data were collected from employee safety and health records. RESULTS: In the analyzed period, a total of 9,273 occupational injuries were recorded at Resavica. The highest number of occupational injuries (over 600) were recorded in 2008 (669), 2004 (651), and 2005 (603). The data shows that almost one fifth of the total number of occupational injuries, or 20.74%, occurred during the said three years. On average, 493.06 minor, 51.12 severe, and 1.29 fatal injuries occurred each year. Every day there were 1.29 minor occupational injuries and every seven days there was one severe injury. CONCLUSIONS: Despite indications that there is a connection between some of the variables and the number of injuries, the general conclusion is that injuries are accidental and unpredictable. The high percentages of injuries are due to the organization of work and the age or qualification structure of the staff and, of course, are the consequence of likelihood –the greater the number of workers, the greater the likelihood of injury. However, the present study showed that some measures can be taken to increase occupational safety and reduce the number of injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Investigation of the safety management efficiency in a coal mine aims to improve its safety management level thus ensuring coal mining safety. However, the safety management efficiency is affected by many factors especially for those coal mines operated underground. Furthermore, the constraint factors that are difficult to be identified and eliminated may impede safety management efficiency. OBJECTIVE: This work aims to explore the constraints affecting safety management efficiency through a mathematical model accompanied by some effective measures guided by the theory of constraint (TOC). METHODS: An index system for coal mining safety management efficiency (CMSME) is first established. Then a mathematical model roughly identifying the constraint factors is constructed. The principle of the proposed model is a comparison with the changes of the ratio of integrated CMSME and the ratio of each impact factor over a certain period. Thus, a constraint factor may be one whose ratio changes at a slower rate than that of the integrated CMSME. Following this, some measures are adopted to identify one, or more, real constraints. Finally, the constraints may be broken by internal, or external, means. RESULTS: A case study from Quandian coal mine verified the proposed method: the constraints affecting CMSME could be identified and broken through during the production. This research currently is applied to coal mining activities in a few coal mines, and it will be widely used in the future. CONCLUSIONS: This paper provides a novel method investigating the constraints affecting CMSME and breaking through them. The case study shows that breaking through constraints during the production is beneficial to CMSME. Furthermore, a coal mine with a high CMSME index may still, at some time, have one, or more, bottleneck constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although, there are a number of safety management systems available but the near-misses, dangerous occurrences, incident and accidents occur every day and it became worst and known to be a major concerned in mining industry. In this paper, a coal mine accident has been analysed which showed reoccurring disturbances during routine operation were present in the contributory path of the accident. The reoccurring disturbances were the warning from the system toward the organisation and could be seen as pre-warning signals. It is necessary to investigate all the pre-warning which are unknown, as well as to identify all the underlying causes. As a result suitable action can be taken against them for the prevention of accidents in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this review was to build upon a previous study on the root causes of truck-related fatalities in surface coal mining operations in West Virginia, and to develop intervention strategies to eliminate these fatalities. This review considers a two-pronged approach to accident prevention: one that is fundamental and traditional (safety regulations, training and education, and engineering of the work environment); and one that is innovative and creative (e.g., applying technological advances to better control and eliminate the root causes of accidents). Suggestions for improving current training and education system are proposed, and recommendations are provided on improving the safety of mine working conditions, specifically safety conditions on haul roads, dump sites, and loading areas. We also discuss various currently available technologies that can help prevent haul truck-related fatal accidents. The results of this review should be used by mine personnel to help create safer working conditions and decrease truck-related fatalities in surface coal mining. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Silicosis and coal worker's pneumoconiosis are serious occupational respiratory diseases associated with the coal mining industry and the inhalation of respirable dusts containing crystalline silica. The purpose of this study (funded by the Mine Health and Safety Council of South Africa) was to evaluate the individual contributions of underground coal mining tasks to the respirable dust and respirable silica dust concentrations in an underground section by sampling the respirable dust concentrations at the intake and return of each task. The identified tasks were continuous miner (CM) cutting, construction, transfer of coal, tipping, and roof bolting. The respirable dust-generating hierarchy of the tasks from highest to lowest was: transfer of coal > CM right cutting > CM left cutting > CM face cutting > construction > roof bolting > tipping; and for respirable silica dust: CM left cutting > construction > transfer of coal > CM right cutting. Personal exposure levels were determined by sampling the exposures of workers performing tasks in the section. Respirable dust concentrations and low concentrations of respirable silica dust were found at the intake air side of the section, indicating that air entering the section is already contaminated. The hierarchy for personal respirable dust exposures was as follows, from highest to lowest: CM operator > cable handler > miner > roof bolt operator > shuttle car operator, and for respirable silica dust: shuttle car operator > CM operator > cable handler > roof bolt operator > miner. Dust control methods to lower exposures should include revision of the position of workers with regard to the task performed, positioning of the tasks with regard to the CM cutting, and proper use of the line curtains to direct ventilation appropriately. The correct use of respiratory protection should also be encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RISKGATE is an interactive online risk management body of knowledge developed by the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre, University of Queensland, to assist the mining industry in implementing continual improvement in management of major unwanted events thus maximising health, safety and operational performance. This body of knowledge generates substantive and leading edge controls to assist mining industry stakeholders in risk assessments, incident investigation, audits and training. The first 11 RISKGATE topics (Collisions, Tyres, Isolation, Strata Underground, Ground Control Open Cut, Fires, Explosions, Explosives Underground, Explosives Open Cut, Manual Tasks, Slips/Trips/Falls) were launched in December 2012. RISKGATE is the largest single Australian Coal Association Research Program occupational health and safety initiative to date. All major Australian coal mining companies are contributing topic experts to this broad industry initiative with over 400 days of industry expert time logged in action research workshops during 2011-2012 to develop the knowledge base for the first 11 topics. From a broader industry perspective, RISKGATE provides knowledge capture and knowledge exchange that will drive industry-wide innovation and best practice in the identification, assessment and management of risk. By capturing operational knowledge from industry experts, RISKGATE provides a cumulative corporate memory at a time of high personnel turnover in the coal industry. There is no reason that the RISKGATE approach and system could not be adapted to knowledge management requirements of a broad range of other high risk industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the three important social problems in the coal mining industry in China which include corruption, work safety, and environmental damage, and examines the determinants and state solutions of each problem. Topics include the expansion of coal production in the country to correspond its economic growth, the main coal producing provinces have become the place for corruption, often reflects conflict of interest between different societal groups or government levels, and the devastating effect of coal mining on environment, like encroaching on agricultural land.

Abstract: Insufficient investment in safety is one of the most important reasons which lead to frequent accidents in Chinese mining industry. Safety input has long been regarded as a ‘sunk cost’, lacking output, and little attention from mining companies was focused on increasing safety input according to technical codes or technical requirements due to the narrow understanding on safety input. So, the empirical analysis on the contribution share of safety investment to economic growth is very important. In this paper, a new set of production safety indexes including six 1-level indexes for describing the safety level of mining production in China was constructed on the basis of Granger causality test. Meanwhile, a mining economic growth model was constructed on the basis of the new production safety indexes with co-integration theory and dynamic modeling system. The empirical results show that the production safety factor in the short term indeed drives the GDP growth in the mining industry although labor and capital input remain the major factors impacting mining economic growth, and its long term contribution share is 7.7%. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of production safety indexes, shows that the safety level of mining production increased more than 21-fold during 1991–2009, and the investment in mining technology development capability, mining safety production environment and mechanized level of mining should be the direction to focus for improving the safety level of mining production. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Mining remains one of the most hazardous occupations worldwide and underground coal mines are especially notorious for their high accident rates. In this work, we provide an overview of the broad and multi-faceted topic of safety in the mining industry. After reviewing some statistics of mining accidents in the United States, we focus on one pervasive and deadly failure mode in mines, namely explosions. The repeated occurrence of mine explosions, often in similar manner, is the loud unfinished legacy of mining accidents and their occurrence in the 21st century is inexcusable and should constitute a strong call for action for all stakeholders in this industry to settle this problem. We analyze one such recent mine disaster in which deficiencies in various safety barriers failed to prevent the accident initiating event from occurring, then subsequent lines of defense failed to block this accident scenario from unfolding and to mitigate its consequences. We identify the technical, organizational, and regulatory deficiencies that failed to prevent the escalation of the mine hazards into an accident, and the accident into a “disaster”. This case study provides an opportunity to illustrate several concepts that help describe the phenomenology of accidents, such as initiating events, precursor or lead indicator, and accident pathogen. Next, we introduce the safety principle of defense-in-depth, which is the basis for regulations and risk-informed decisions by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and we examine its relevance and applicability to the mining system in support of accident prevention and coordinating actions on all the safety levers, technical, organizational, and regulatory to improve mining safety. The mining system includes the physical confines and characteristics of the mine, the equipment in the mine, the individuals and the organization that operate the mine, as well as the processes and regulatory constraints under which the mine operates. We conclude this article with the proposition for the establishment of defense-in-depth as the guiding safety principle for the mining industry and we indicate possible benefits for adopting this structured hazard-centric system approach to mining safety. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An essay is presented on workplace safety and health policies for coal miners. It discusses various methods for getting the union model to nonunion coal mine, along with the policies which are said to represent a varied approach to coal mine safety. It also explores a case study which investigates how to deal with health and safety issues occurring in critical industries, such as the coal mining industry.

Organisational culture has been defined as a complex framework of national, organizational and professional attitudes and values within which groups and individuals function. Unsafe behaviours play a major role in many of the accidents that are still occurring in the Romanian mining industry. Based on a thorough literature review, this paper aims to provide a practical framework for the process of identifying behavioural issues and taking effective action to address them. A framework for the development and maturation of organizational safety culture was formulated. The safety culture model proposed can be employed to enforce the safety climate within the Romanian collieries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the lapses of the mining industry which was associated to the coal mine explosion at Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine in Montcoal, West Virginia. It explores the various enactment of coal mining legislation such as the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act. The enacted legislation intends to protect coal miners from accidents in the coal mining industry. However, most of the mining companies refuse to comply with the policies stipulated in the legislation as this affects the profitability of the firm. The mine explosion at UBB could have been prevented if the legislation were followed.

Spontaneous combustion represents a major risk during coal mining. It can trigger fires, with adverse effects both from a material point of view and with human losses. The study of coal deposits combustion, of the mechanism that triggers spontaneous combustion and the mining method has led to the occurrence of this combustion. It relies on the conveyance of zinc chloride sprayed particles into goals and into fissures in the coal back. These particles diminish coal tendency to self-ignition with more then 90% thus diminishing the possible occurrence of spontaneous combustions. The test have passed the laboratory stage and now are process of implementation in industry at mines. The researches carried out by the experts of INCD - INSEMEX Petrosani together with the experts of CNH Petrosani havematerialized into a method that is being used to diminish coal tendency to self - ignition. The tests carried out on the stand at INCD-INSEMEX Petrosani with coal samples from the Jiu Valley coalfield and treated with chemical substances, have underlined a cease of oxidation before reaching coal self-ignition. Coal tehdency to self-ignition. Coal tendency to self-ignition diminished with around 90%. This method was tested at Lonea mine - on the working with undermined bed no. 74, layer no. 3, bl. VII, based on a working agenda approved by the management of CNH Petrosani - Lonea mine is in its subordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to determine the influence of federal mine safety inspections on underground coal mine accidents. An economic incentives model is developed to relate federal enforcement activities to accident rates. The determinants of accident rates are analyzed for 535 coal mines during the period 1973-75. Estimates based on these data when applied to the model indicate that increasing inspections by 25 per cent would have produced a 13 per cent decline in fatal accidents and an 18 per cent decline in disabling accidents. (Am J Public Health 1985; 75:497-501.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In November 1968 an explosion in the "safe" No. 9 mine of the Consolidation Coal Company at Farmington, West Virgina, killed seventy-eight miners and produced a brief but potent public outcry for new federal safety legislation. In December 1907, ten miles from Farmington at Monongab, West Virgina, 361 miners died in an explosion in the "safe" Monongah No. 6 and No.8 mines of the Fairmont Coal Company. Participants in the coal-mining safety movement included miners, mine inspectors, scientists, journalists and government officials. All played important roles, but the coal-mine operators, more than any other group, defined the response of the Progressive years to the problem of safety in the coal mines and determined the perimeters of state, national, and private action. The national component of the Progressive movement was the logical product of a transformation of the coal industry which began in the 1850s and which, by 1900, had produced an intensely competitive bituminous industry with national coal and labor markets as well as scientific problems which transcended state boundaries. The movement failed to the extent that operators were divided and unable to transcend local frameworks and this, unfortunately, was the usual state of the industry.

In the eleven years prior to the passage of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, fatality rates changed little for underground miners and were increasing for surface miners. Following implementation of the 1969 Act, both rates decreased. Beginning in 1979, and continuing into the first six months of 1982, both rates increased. These associations suggest that current relaxation of regulations and policies for coal mine safety are unwarranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RISKGATE is an interactive online risk management body of knowledge developed by the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre, University of Queensland, to assist the mining industry in implementing continual improvement in management of major unwanted events thus maximising health, safety and operational performance. This body of knowledge generates substantive and leading edge controls to assist mining industry stakeholders in risk assessments, incident investigation, audits and training. The first 11 RISKGATE topics (Collisions, Tyres, Isolation, Strata Underground, Ground Control Open Cut, Fires, Explosions, Explosives Underground, Explosives Open Cut, Manual Tasks, Slips/Trips/Falls) were launched in December 2012. RISKGATE is the largest single Australian Coal Association Research Program occupational health and safety initiative to date. All major Australian coal mining companies are contributing topic experts to this broad industry initiative with over 400 days of industry expert time logged in action research workshops during 2011-2012 to develop the knowledge base for the first 11 topics. From a broader industry perspective, RISKGATE provides knowledge capture and knowledge exchange that will drive industry-wide innovation and best practice in the identification, assessment and management of risk. By capturing operational knowledge from industry experts, RISKGATE provides a cumulative corporate memory at a time of high personnel turnover in the coal industry. There is no reason that the RISKGATE approach and system could not be adapted to knowledge management requirements of a broad range of other high risk industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]